Reunification of MCDs will also involve rejig of reserved seats

Election officials said the number of reserved seats will have to be re-calculated on the basis of Delhi’s total population in case the MCDs are unified

NEW DELHI: The Centre’s plan of reunifying the three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCD), if executed, will be a big task for the civic bodies and a challenge for the State Election Commission (SEC) too. Experts and SEC officials said in case the MCDs are unified, all the reserved seats will have to be rejigged.

The MCD polls are scheduled in April. (HT PHOTO)

Ahead of the MCD polls scheduled in April, the SEC on January 25 released a list of wards to be reserved for women and the Scheduled Castes (SC). Based on the distribution of the people belonging to the SC and the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 46 wards have been placed under the reserved category including 24 for women from the community. Of these 46 wards, 20 are under the North civic body, 15 under South corporation, and 11 come under the East MCD.

The reunification would mean the entire process would have to be redone. Election officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the number of reserved seats will have to be re-calculated on the basis of Delhi’s total population in case the MCDs are unified. The overall percentage of SCs in Delhi is about 16.73%. North Delhi has the highest population of SCs and so that area may have the maximum reserved wards. Apart from this, at least 50% of the 272 wards in Delhi are reserved for women.

Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, who as the then state election commissioner conducted the first elections in 2012 after the trifurcation of MCD, said it is also likely that the Union home ministry will change the formula of choosing the reserved wards altogether. Mehta said seats are currently reserved separately in three municipal corporations. “If they are unified...[this]...will change and a new... selection of reserved seats will be done...” He said the reservation will be done on the basis of the percentage of the SC population as per the 2011 Census. “So that may remain the same. But the way in which the reserved seats will be selected will have to be decided afresh.”

As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the same wards cannot be reserved for SCs or women in two consecutive elections. Also, the amendment in the Act done in 2011-2012 to trifurcate the unified MCD will have to be withdrawn. Therefore, a major work lies with the Union home ministry. If it notifies amended Act, then that will also mention the basic principle by which the reserved seats will have to be carved out.

With their expenditure outweighing revenues, the corporations face mounting debt and liabilities. In the last year alone, the financial liabilities have increased from ₹7,523.97 crore to ₹8,803.25 crore and continue to rise. East DMC’s current Budget showed liabilities of ₹1,402.9 crore till September 2021. This has now risen to around ₹2000 crore. According to the Budget, the combined liabilities of the three corporations are at least ₹11,800 crore. It is almost double the income from internal sources.

In 2011, the Sheila Dikshit government proposed the trifurcation for better efficiency. In November 2011, the Union home ministry cleared the proposal. The Delhi government convened a special assembly session and passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill in December 2011. The final notification for the trifurcation was issued in January 2012, carving North, South, and East Delhi Municipal Corporations with 104 wards given to the first two and 64 to the third.