Reunification of Delhi municipal corporations: What it means for the national capital

The President of India on Tuesday approved the MCD reunification bill that seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi. 

With this approval, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) will cease to exist, and the unified body would be called the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Take a look at how this change is going to affect the national capital and its power structure:

A STRONGER MCD

Delhi is governed by five separate local bodies, including three MCDs, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment Board. The MCD used to govern almost 98 per cent of Delhi till 2012 when the trifurcation happened.

There are different decision-making bodies resulting in confusion over implementation of several schemes. The central government believes that a single, well-equipped entity would be better to manage, and it will also reduce administrative expenses

The Centre is also of the view that after the reunification, it will be easier to provide funds to the MCD and also to implement flagship schemes for which funds are provided.

MUNICIPAL POLLS CAN FINALLY HAPPEN

Now that the reunification bill has received the President's nod, the delimitation process is expected to begin shortly. After the process is completed, the 2022 MCD election could be scheduled soon. The terms of the three corporations - SDMC, NDMC and EDMC - end on May 18, May 19 and May 22 respectively.

The State Election Commission (SEC) had deferred the announcement of the dates for municipal elections on 9 March.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to win the civic body polls. "If you [BJP] have the courage, conduct MCD elections on time and win. If we lose, we will leave politics," Kejriwal had said.

"मैं BJP को चुनौती देता हूँ!MCD के चुनाव समय पर कराओ और जीतकर दिखाओ। अगर हम हार गये तो राजनीति छोड़ देंगे।"- CM @ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/okEMkGUjNh

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 23, 2022

POWER TUSSLES

When the MCD was unified, the mayor's position used to carry a lot of weight because he/she represented three municipal bodies. Now, after the reunification, the mayor once again will be a strong voice in the national capital. Which means Delhi will have three governing authorities now.

It was one of the reasons why the AAP government opposed this bill in the Parliament. Now, other than the CM and the LG, the MCD will also have a larger say in the policy-making and taking of decisions.

The LG had already become the effective in-charge of Delhi after the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 came into effect last year.

So, this means that even though the municipal bodies are getting unified, the executive power of the national capital will be trifurcated in a way. This may lead to political tussles, especially when the mayor and the CM are of different political parties.

POSSIBLE BAILOUT

If we leave the South MCD, the other two municipal corporations in Delhi have been recurring huge losses since the trifurcation.

The employees have not been aable to get salaries on time, sometimes they have had to wait for months. In the last few years, employees have protested and even went on the strike demanding timely payment of salaries.

Through the unification, the Centre might try to bailout the MCD by providing a one-time package to clear the backlogs that have occurred so far.