Rajya Sabha passes Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022

What is the News?

Rajya Sabha has passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Lok Sabha has already passed this Bill.

What is the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022?

Purpose: The Bill seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.  

Key Provisions of the Bill

Unification of Municipal Corporations in Delhi: The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Powers of the Delhi government: The Act as amended in 2011 empowers the Delhi government to decide various matters under the Act. These include (i) total number of seats of councilors (ii) division of the area of corporations into zones and wards (iii) delimitation of wards, among others. The amendment bill instead empowers the central government to decide these matters.

Number of councilors: The Act provides that the number of seats in the three corporations taken together should not be more than 272. The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.

Removal of Director of Local Bodies: The Act provides for a Director of Local Bodies to assist the Delhi government and discharge certain functions which include: (i) coordinating between Corporations, (ii) framing Recruitment Rules for various posts. The Bill omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies. 

E-governance system for citizens: The Bill adds that obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on an anytime-anywhere basis for a better, accountable, and transparent administration.  

Source: This post is based on the article “Rajya Sabha passes Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022” published in The Hindu on 5th April 2022.