he draft report on the delimitation of municipal wards in the city is likely to be published within the next 10 days for public suggestions and objections, according to sources familiar with the development.
Sources said work on Assembly constituencies in east Delhi is currently under way, while work on constituencies in north and south Delhi has been completed, as the exercise continues to remain on “fast-track mode”.
Reduction in wards
“In Assembly constituencies, which have more than three municipal wards, the number of wards has been reduced. For instance, in Matiala, which has seven wards, the number has been brought down to six. Similarly, the number of wards in Vikaspuri, which has six wards, has been reduced to five,” a source said.
According to an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) dated July 22, the draft delimitation report will show the number of municipal wards along with their individual maps.
The MHA order also fixed the minimum number of wards in each Assembly constituency at three. According to sources, the average population per ward would be around 65,000.
“We need to publish the draft report in the next 10 days to give a window of around21 daysfor public suggestions. This will also give us time to accommodate suggestions before the final report is sent to the Centre,” sources said.
Final report in Nov
The delimitation committee, which was constituted by the MHA on July 8, is headed by State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev. It was asked to complete the exercise and submit its report within four months from the date of its constitution.
“The physical verification of wards will take a week. Most of the paperwork has been finished,” the source said.
On July 26, The Hindu had reported that the exact number of seats to be carved out of the delimitation exercise has been fixed at 250. The need for the delimitation exercise arose after the Centre notified the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, which proposed the merger of the three erstwhile municipal corporations and a reduction in the number of councillor seats to “not more than 250”.
