Following a meeting with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday exuded confidence that clearance from the Home Ministry for trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi could come by November 8.
Ms. Dikshit said the Delhi Government has given its replies to all the points on which clarification had been sought by the Union Home Ministry on the issue of trifurcation.
“We have been told that the Union Ministry officials would need a couple of days more for completing the technicalities relating to the clearance of the draft proposal,” she said.
Once the clearance from the Home Ministry is obtained, Ms. Dikshit said a special session of the Delhi Assembly would be convened to pass the Bill.
“The House has not been prorogued and so the session would be convened at the earliest,” she said, adding that its duration would be decided in consultation with the legislators.
Ms. Dikshit also confirmed that the MCD's split would be on the broad contours laid down earlier.
It had earlier been decided to split the corporation into North, South and East with 104 wards in each of the first two and 64 wards in the East Corporation.
As per the proposal, women would be provided 50 per cent reservation in these corporations.
Ms. Dikshit has been pursuing the matter of the MCD trifurcation vigorously as she wants the administrative and financial set up of the new proposed corporations to be in place before the upcoming civic polls.
Earlier in August too Ms. Dikshit had met Mr. Chidambaram to get the MHA clearance expedited and the Delhi Government had also sent an amended proposal following the Ministry's demand for certain changes.
But then the Lieutenant-Governor had raised 22 queries on the proposals and the Delhi Government has replied to each of them .
