Committee decides to maintain 35 wards

The three-member committee constituted to conduct elections of the municipal corporation unanimously agreed to maintain the number of wards at 35, opposing the state government’s order to trim the wards to 32, citing the 2011 Census

The three-member committee constituted to conduct elections of the municipal corporation unanimously agreed to maintain the number of wards at 35, opposing the state government’s order to trim the wards to 32, citing the 2011 Census.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) can have 35 wards only if there is conclusive evidence that the city has a population of over 10 lakh and a new survey is required for this. As long as the number of MCG wards is not decided, elections cannot be conducted.(HT Photo)

The first meeting of the committee also decided to redraw wards in order to eliminate logistics issues.

However, the decision on whether a new survey needs to be carried out to update the population figures was not discussed in the meeting.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) can have 35 wards only if there is conclusive evidence that the city has a population of over 10 lakh and a new survey is required for this. As long as the number of MCG wards is not decided, elections cannot be conducted.

The committee comprises Gurgaon administration deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash, director of urban local bodies Shekhar Vidyarthi and the MCG commissioner or a representative chosen by him. Satyaparakash holds the post of MCG commissioner too.

However, as the members have the option to send representatives for meeting, additional MCG commissioner Amit Khatri and a representative of the Urban Local Bodies attended the meeting on Saturday.

Khatri said the matter (population survey) will be discussed in the consequent meetings. He said the decision of the committee to maintain the same number of wards will be conveyed to the state government prior to the next meeting.

The committee meeting also agreed on forming wards with clear territorial jurisdiction. Currently, few wards overlap assembly constituencies in Gurgaon and Badshahpur. The NH 8 and railway line also run through a single ward. Also, certain sectors and villages are part of two constituencies.

The committee said these are causing logistic issues and wards will be redrawn in a manner that highways and railway lines and assembly constituencies will demarcate wards. Also, sectors and villages will not come in one ward but in different constituencies.

Shortlisted members whose views could be incorporated into reckoning included Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal, former mayor of MCG Vimal Yadav, former councillors Dalip Sahni and Gargi Kakkar, chairman of Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Limited GL Sharma, BJP’s Gurgaon secretary Anil Yadav, joint commissioner of MCG Anu Sheokand and joint commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad BS Kaliraman.

The term of MCG councillors ended in June.

In March, citing the 2011 Census figures , the directorate of urban local bodies notified a primary delimitation order under Rule 3 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Delimitation of Wards Rules for reorganising election wards of the MCG. This resulted in the corporation having 3 wards less. As per the ruling, cities with population less than 10 lakh and above 8 lakh are to be allotted 32 wards.

In 2011, when the first municipal elections were held, the MCG had carried out a survey and found the population of the city to be 11.53 lakh. However, as per the 2011 Census that was published later, the population of the city was 9.1 lakh.