Confederation of All India Traders
“Vvapar Bhawan’
925/1, Naiwala, Karol Bagh, New Delhi.110005.
Phone: .91-11-45032664 Telefax: 91-11-45032665
E-mail: teamcait@gmail.com website: www.cait.in
Ref. No.: 3375/1/50
14th March, 2022
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri
Hon’ble Minister for Urban Development
Government of India
New Delhi
Dear Shri Puri Ji,
Subject : Unification of three MCDs in Delhi
We appreciate the step of the Union Government to unified three Municipal Corporations in Delhi into one single body which will certainly provide effective civic services in Delhi under the current scenario and also for future development of Delhi in a most responsible and structured way. In this context, we take liberty to suggest that similar to Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation in Mumbai, Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the unified MCD in Delhi should be established as Brahan Dilli Municipal Corporation because Delhi is not less than Mumbai in any manner and since we have a successful example of Mumbai, there is no reason that it will not succeed in Delhi. Besides citizens, the traders are the economic wheel of Delhi and any civic structure will also impact the business community.
It is further suggested that like previously, the Delhi jai Board should be brought back under the ambit of MCD as providing civic amenities is the responsibility of Chic agency and not the Government in the same city. The Delhi Government should be more encouraged to draw better development plans for the city and must have strict monitor infrastructure and be a guiding force for the MCD. It is also suggested that for efficient working of Municipal Corporation a Steering Board consisting of Mayor, representative of Central and State Government, Delhi Police and DDA should also be constituted for better coordination as it has been experienced in the past that because of no coordination between multiple agencies, the sufferer is a poor citizen.
Based on the previous experiences related to the solution of problems of the citizens, it is suggested that an empowered Niggaamm Lokpal should also be constituted in the unified Municipal Corporation, which should be heided by a retired judge of the HiHigh Court, so that the problems of the people can be resolved soon. It has often been seen that even after giving complaints in the Corporation, they do not get resolved for years, in such a situation a strict watchdog institution is necessary. Likewise a Zonal Lokpal in every Municipal Zone, headed by a retired judge of the Divisional Court will be more effective and help in providing better civic administration to Delhi citizens.
It is further suggested that a unified Municipal Corporation is much needed in order to provide most effective and efficient civic services to the citizens of Delhi. Three municipal corporations in Delhi were created by former Chid-Minister Smt. Sheila Dikshit more for a political motive but this experiment has proved to be a complete failure and the problems of the general public remains the same. Despite having three municipal corporations, Delhi witnessed no development in terms of infrastructure, nor did any civic amenities got increased, neither parking problem was solved nor infrastructure development took place in the markets, but multiple bureaucracy got encouraged which was never in the larger interest for the capital of the country. Citizens were forced to cry from pillar to post. Therefore, it is a better thought to have a unified Municipal Corporation in Delhi
However, it is necessary to make the deliberative wing of the unified Municipal Corporation empowered. At present, the Mayor of the Corporation can merely call for the files but the executive powers remain with the Commissioner. However, following the democratic norms, the public representatives i.e Municipal Councillors and Mayor should be empowered so that the officers can be restrained and the bureaucracy becomes responsible, while the Councilors should also be given the desired authority to com-plain about the concerning officer to the Mayor for taking any action, if the complaint is legitimate. Such a system is running successfully in the municipal corporations of other cities of the country. This leads to better coordination between elected representatives and officials. He also suggested that while decentralizing the authority of the Municipal Corporation, the Zonal Corporation system should be made more effective and responsible. This will lead to better development in all the areas of Delhi uniformly.
We crave leave to suggest that there is also a need to strengthen the Unified Municipal Corporation financially, and in this context, the Central grant should be given by the Central Government directly to the Municipal Corporation instead through the Delhi Government and the budget of the Municipal Corporation should beprepared under the supervision of the Central Government. The Municipal Corporation should be put under the supervision of the Lieutenant Governor, so that the Municipal Corporation can work as an independent elected body. Delhi is the capital of the country and therefore it is necessary that the Municipal Cor-poration should work under the representative of the Central Government or the Lieutenant Governor. He also said that in order to work effectively, the Councilors should be given the facility of assistant and the reimbursement of petrol in addition to proper salary. It is true that Municipal Councillors are the first ladder of public dealings and hundreds of people visit them daily for redressal of their civic problems, keeping this in mind, the expenses incurred by them should be suitably reimbursed by the municipal corporation but at the same time they should also be made responsible towards their obligations to the citizens of Delhi.
We trust that you will be kind in considering our suggestions.
Thank You. With kind regards
Truly yours
Praveen Khandelwal
National Secretary General
Confederation of All India Traders
