Highlights
- The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
- The bill will merge all three Delhi MCDs together.
- It was approved last week on Tuesday by the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The bill will merge all three Delhi MCDs together and was approved last week on Tuesday by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The development came not so long after Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier today spoke about the bill in Lok Sabha.
He defended the then-proposed bill in the Lok Sabha and said that it rests well within the powers of the Parliament. He also said that the Delhi government is meting out "step-motherly" treatment to municipal corporations in the national capital due to which they are struggling with inadequate resources for carrying out their responsibilities.
Shah suggested that the trifurcation of the MCD was done in a hurry for political reasons which lead to an imbalance between the income and liabilities of the civic bodies.
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi however, had been critical of the Centre's move to bring the bill a month before the elections to the three municipal corporations, claiming it was an attempt by the BJP to delay the polls as it feared defeat.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated in 2011 by the then Delhi government led by Sheila Dikshit to create compact municipalities aimed at providing a better delivery of services.
The BJP has been ruling the municipal corporations in Delhi for the last 15 years and the AAP has been sensing an opportunity to oust it from power and strengthen its grip on the national capital.