NEW DELHI
The financial difficulties faced by the civic bodies after the trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 2012, was the major reason behind the Bill to unify the three bodies, according to sources. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior civic official said that a meeting between the commissioners of the three corporations — North, South and East – and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will take place on Wednesday.
Union Cabinet’s decision to clear the Bill follows a meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and senior representatives from the BJP’s state unit over the unification exercise here last week. According to BJP sources, the Bill is likely to be tabled on Thursday or Friday, coinciding with the Delhi Assembly’s budget session, which begins on Wednesday.
The rationale
Sources said the MHA was likely to disburse a tranche of an estimated Rs. 2,000 crore to the unified civic body to begin the process of the corporation ridding itself of its financial liabilities. Party sources said that the move will, administratively, result in two parallel governments - the Delhi government and the unified corporation - which will wield more or less equal powers in the Capital.
Politically, the move is aimed at the creation of a “parallel and more efficient Delhi Model” to be built from the ground up by bureaucrats handpicked by the Centre in time for the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025, party sources added.
At the moment the precise contours of the unified civic body are yet to emerge -- especially in terms of the composition of its legislature and the executive. However, sources said that the party’s Delhi unit was in favour of the unified MCD “running on the pattern of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC)“ to which “eminent professionals with citizens’ welfare at heart” could be nominated.
Falling revenues
According to the fiscal details that were sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), accessed by The Hindu, the combined budget expenditure of the three civic bodies from the financial year 2016-17 to 2020-21 was over Rs. 53,000 crores. While the combined revenue of the three civic bodies stood at slightly over Rs. 32,000 crore – indicating a deficit of over Rs. 21,000 crore.
“In the last five years, the MHA has asked for the fiscal details of the civic bodies each year. But the ministry never got back to us after the meetings though it was well aware of the financial crisis,” a senior official said.
The official added that the unified corporation was in need of a bail-out package.
“In simple terms, the liabilities of the civic bodies will have to be knocked out in order for them to start afresh. Unification will not solve the crisis in revenue generation paired with the increase in expenditure,” the official further added.
According to the data accessed by The Hindu, the East municipal corporation has contract liabilities of Rs.116.87 crore, while the North and South corporations have contractor liabilities of Rs. 770.81 crore and Rs. 408.23, respectively.
The fiscal details sent to the MHA also include details of the arrears in salary payment and pension of the employees.
With the announcement of dates for the civic polls being deferred due to the development by the Centre, a senior official at the State Election Commission (SEC) said that the process of taking legal opinion on the matter has been completed.
“However, we are still examining the matter. We do not know what will happen until the Bill is tabled,” the senior official said.
Political clash
North-east Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari welcomed the move to recreate an “undivided” municipal body. He said it would pave the path to ensure Delhi’s stature as an ideal Capital city, ensure the welfare of its citizens and prevent “the demise of ambitious civic schemes.”
“Arvind Kejriwal’s government deliberately weakened the already-divided civic bodies of the city by withholding funds due to them as per a conspiracy planned to punish its people,” Mr. Tiwari alleged.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the unification of municipal corporations could have been done a couple of years back, as the BJP has been in power in the Centre since 2014. It could have been done even after the general election, he added, but the BJP is doing it now to postpone the election because they know that they will lose badly if the election is held now.
Mr. Bharadwaj claimed that the BJP had, similarly in 2014, postponed the Assembly elections fearing defeat. When the elections were eventually conducted, after the intervention of the Supreme Court, AAP came to power winning 67 out of 70 Assembly seats, he added.
The Delhi Congress chief Ch. Anil Kumar said that the reason for the unification of the three corporations of Delhi was not the shortage of funds. He alleged it was being done because both the BJP and the AAP were afraid of defeat in the polls and therefore had decided to postpone the elections.
“Unification will not solve the fund issue. The reason why the MCD was trifurcated was to ensure that there was better governance and transparency. But those in power could not provide that” Mr. Kumar said.
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said that the Union government should have brought in the bill at least six months earlier to prevent any delay in elections.
“The AAP government cannot escape the blame as they financially starved the civic bodies. The Union and State should not enter into a blame game and need to ensure holding the elections as soon as possible.” Mr. Maken said.
