{"id":227057,"date":"2023-02-17T20:29:21","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T14:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=227057"},"modified":"2023-02-20T12:45:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T07:15:49","slug":"reigning-over-the-capital-from-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/reigning-over-the-capital-from-above\/","title":{"rendered":"Reigning over the capital, from above"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>– The post is based on the article \u201cReigning over the capital, from above\u201d <\/strong>published in The Hindu <\/strong>on 16th February 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS2- Devolution of Powers and Finances up to Local Levels and Challenges Therein.<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>– Municipal governance<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>– It has been more than a month since the election results to the Delhi Municipal Corporation was declared. But the city still does not have a mayor. Election of the Mayor could not be held in three attempts.<\/p>\n

The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had nominated 10 members to the Municipal Corporation just before the first session. AAP party approached Supreme Court against this decision.<\/p>\n

What are different legal opinions about the right of nominated members to vote for election of Mayor?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Supreme Court observed that \u201cnominated members cannot go for election\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Section 3(b) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957<\/strong> provides that 10 people who have \u201cspecial knowledge or experience<\/strong> in municipal administration\u201d are to be nominated to the Corporation. Such nominated persons \u201cshall not have the right to vote<\/strong> in the meetings of the Corporation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article 243R (2<\/strong>) provides that state legislation can include those with special knowledge of municipal administration to be represented in municipalities. But such persons shall not have the right to vote.<\/p>\n

What is the larger picture behind the recent event related to the election of MCD Mayor?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is part of the Union government\u2019s increasing attempts to gain control over Delhi\u2019s governance. The Union government passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It has affirmed the primacy of the elected government<\/strong> in Delhi. It has provided that on matters specified by the LG, the Council of Ministers must obtain the permission of the LG before taking any executive decision.<\/p>\n

In April 2022, Parliament amended the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act<\/strong> to merge the North, South, and East Delhi Municipalities.<\/p>\n

It was initiated by the Union government and passed by Parliament, undercutting the Legislative Assembly. The Union government used its plenary powers under Article 239AA<\/strong> of the Constitution to pass this law.<\/p>\n

What are the issues faced by municipalities in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First,<\/strong> Local governments tend to function as administrative vessels<\/strong> of the State government, and not as an independent level of government.<\/p>\n

Second, <\/strong>the 74th Amendment <\/strong>provides for devolution of 18 functions <\/strong>to municipal governments. But, many of these functions continue to be exercised by state government-controlled parastatal agencies <\/strong>such as development authorities.<\/p>\n

Third,<\/strong> the executive powers of the municipality are often vested with the State government-appointed commissioners. It renders the mayor to a ceremonial role<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fourth,<\/strong> Municipalities are vested with very few revenue generating powers<\/strong>. It keeps them reliant on grants and loans from the State and Union governments.<\/p>\n

Fifth, <\/strong>more recently, national-level urban programmes<\/strong> such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the Smart Cities Mission have given the Union government a larger role in driving urban development and governance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What is the way forward for decentralised governance in urban areas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There needs to be more clarity about the authority<\/strong> of each level of government.<\/p>\n

Local autonomy<\/strong> is crucial. But, higher levels of government can also have a legitimate role in local issues to ensure regional coordination, reduce spatial inequality, or manage economic and environmental externalities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source– The post is based on the article \u201cReigning over the capital, from above\u201d published in The Hindu on 16th February 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Devolution of Powers and Finances up to Local Levels and Challenges Therein. Relevance– Municipal governance News– It has been more than a month since the election results to the Delhi Municipal… Continue reading Reigning over the capital, from above<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10498],"class_list":["post-227057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":1700788808,"cached_date":1704919017},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227057\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}