Story of Delhi Municipal Corporation

Delhi has been the seat of power in India for hundreds of years. It still is. But the nucleus of power of Delhi's local governments keeps shifting. It had also been marred with financial and administrative issues for decades. To govern the city's civic matters, the MCD was formed after 10 years of Independence in 1958. About a dozen local area committees and boards managed city affairs, but these bodies lacked coordination. After 1958, the MCD witnessed a significant change in 2012 when the state legislature trifurcated the Corporation. In 2022, a bill was passed in Parliament to unify all three corporations. This article attempts to trace the origin of the MCD, its changing roles, functions and authority, and also reflects on the Delhi Municipal Act (Amendment) 2022

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was born in 1958. Since then, it has witnessed multiple changes in its structure, functions and authority.

The history of local government in Delhi dates back to April 1863, when the first meeting of the municipality was held. However, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was officially established in April 1958 by an act of Parliament, namely the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Act, 1957.        

Till 1958, there were about 12 committees and boards used to manage civic services at the local level in Delhi. As per the government records, these committees included Municipal Committee, Delhi; Notified Area Committee, Civil Station; Notified Area Committee, Red Fort; Municipal Committee, Delhi-Shahdara; Municipal Committee, West Delhi; Municipal Committee, South Delhi; Notified Area Committee, Mehrauli; Notified Area Committee, Najafgarh; Notified Area Committee, Narela; District Board, Delhi; Delhi State Electricity Board; Delhi Road Transport Authority; and Delhi Joint Water and Sewage Board. These administrative committees and boards were merged in the MCD to manage civic issues of the national capital better. The Delhi Cantonment Board and the New Delhi Municipal Committee (later renamed as New Delhi Municipal Council) remained independent and continued managing civic services in the areas under their jurisdiction.

As per the Act's wording, there was a need to have a unified body to look after the civic issues as the overlapping functions of the committees were hindering the development of the city. The Act said, "With so many bodies and local authorities looking after the municipal affairs, complications and problems were being faced by the various authorities and the public. A need to have a unified body to administer the Municipal Government of Delhi was strongly felt." The Bill, having been passed by both the Houses of Parliament, was assented to by the President on December 28, 1957. Aruna Asaf Ali, a noted freedom fighter, became the first mayor of Delhi in 1958. The first municipal commissioner of Delhi, P R Nayak, had also taken charge on April 7, 1958. The significance of forming the MCD was such that India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, addressed the first meeting of the MCD.

The MCD had two main wings—the deliberative and administrative or executive. The Mayor headed the deliberative wing, and its primary role was to provide guidance and supervise policy-making and engage with the public. The executive wing was responsible for professional administration, implementing projects and programs and providing the technical assistance required for managing city operations. In the beginning, there were a total of 80 councillors in the MCD which increased to 272 in later years as the population and urban area of the national capital grew. As per the MCD records, the first elected Mayor of Delhi was Trilok Chand Sharma.

Since Delhi was a major urban centre, the city kept growing in its area and population. The MCD Act had provisions for the expansion of wards based on increasing population after the decadal Census. The number of wards increased from 80 to 100 to 134 and finally to 272in 2012.

The office of the MCD was situated in the old Town Hall building at Chandani Chouk in Old Delhi till 2010, when the office of MCD was shifted to a swanky 28-storeyed Civic Centre building at Minto Road. The old Town Hall building was built in the 1860s, and construction was completed in 1866 at nearly Rs 1.86 lakh. The building was earlier called Lawrence Institute, and Delhi College of Higher Studies operated from the building. Later, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi bought the building.

An amendment in the DMC Act in 1993 after implementing the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act changed the way the MCD was governed. The 74th CAA increased the role of urban local bodies and delegated many responsibilities to local government not just in Delhi but to all ULBs across the country. 

Trifurcation in 2012

Until 2012, the unified MCD was the second-largest civic body after Tokyo, Japan. The MCD provided civic services to 97 per cent of Delhi's population. It had 272 wards distributed among 12 administrative zones, with 22 departments and a single commissioner. With its trifurcation into three separate civic bodies, namely South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation, and North Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2012, Delhi local bodies got three commissioners, 66 heads of departments, and three mayors as each of the urban local bodies had their departments to handle civic issues under their jurisdiction. 

SDMC had four zones— Centre, South, West &Najafgarh. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had seven zones that included Rohini, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, City-SadarPahadganj, Narela and Keshavpuram zones. In the redrawing of zonal boundaries under the NDMC, the Keshavpuramzone was carved out, and two zones, City and SadarPhadganj, were merged. SDMC and NDMC have 104 wards each. The third one was the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). It has two zones, namely Shahdara North and Shahdara South, and 64 wards.

According to an article published in The Hindu newspaper, "the split-up was first proposed in the 1987 Balakrishnan Committee Report, which was bolstered in the 2001 Virendra Prakash Committee Report. Later a seven-member Delhi Legislative Assembly Panel was set up in 2001 to study the recommendations and suggest modalities. Since the recommendations had to be processed by the Central Government, another committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Ashok Pradhan to study the issue. The proposal finally took shape in 2011." The trifurcation happened in 2012. 

From 2012 till March 2022, Delhi had been governed by seven elected governments; five local governments and state and central governments. Ten years ago, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into East, North and South Delhi Municipal Corporation. The status of the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board has remained unchanged since their formation. 

What's ahead for MCD

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022 was introduced in Parliament on March 25, 2022. The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. On March 30, 2022, the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on April 5, 2022. The Bill got President's assent on April 18, 2022.

As the Bill was discussed in the Parliament, it received criticism from the opposition parties. They complained that the action was against the federal spirit of the Constitution. The opposition parties blamed the central government for non-cooperative federalism and interfering in the works of state and local governments. However, the Home Minister responded that the Centre had brought in this legislation because Delhi is a Union Territory. It could not bring such a Bill to Gujarat or Bengal. He said, adding that the MCD Bill was "completely constitutional". It is to be noted that it was not the first time that the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill was tabled in Parliament. It has been done before in 1968 and 1983. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had argued that the last ten years of trifurcation did not work well for the national capital as the decision was taken in haste and not well-thought-out. The corporations were not divided adequately. There was no coordination among them, resulting in the deterioration of civic services in the national capital. He asserted that there were three corporations for one city, and they lacked coordination. The Bill explained the failures of the trifurcation further. It says, "the trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was uneven in terms of territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential. As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations compared to their obligations." 

During the debate on the Bill, Shah explained in the Parliament that the main objective of bringing the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is to unify the three municipal corporations into a single, integrated and well-equipped entity. Since the Bill has received assent from the President on April 18, 2022, all three corporations will be merged. The merger will ensure a robust mechanism for synergized and strategic planning and optimal utilization of resources; and bring about greater transparency, improved governance and more efficient delivery of civic service for the people of Delhi.

As soon as the terms of the elected local governments are over in mid-May, the Act will come into force. A special officer appointed by the Central Government will exercise the powers and discharge the Corporation's functions until the day the first meeting of a corporation is held after the commencement of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment)Act, 1993. The newly formed MCD will not have more than 250 wards. The combined number of seats in the three corporations is 272. The NDMC and SDMC had 104 wards each, and the EDMC had 64 wards. The renewed focus of the MCD will be to provide civic services "anywhere, anytime" through a renewed focus on e-governance. 

The argument of the central government that the national capital needs a strong urban local body is well-founded. The local corporations of Delhi could not meet the aspirations of the people and provide efficient civic services because of financial and resource constraints. The state government made a change in 2011-12, but it did not work out as desired.

One should not be wary of changes. More so, we should not hesitate to return to the original state if the change proves ineffective and damaging. The Delhi Municipal Corporations, combined together, serve about 97 per cent of the city's population and cover about 94 per cent of its geographical area. The population density of Delhi is also relatively high, about 11 735. On the contrary, the other two local bodies New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board, have population densities of 6036 and 2560 per sq km. Indeed, the challenges of the MCD are colossal. 

The unification will give more power to the MCD mayor as in the good old days. The post of Mayor in Delhi was influential in the post-independent era. And, the notable and powerful politicians like Aruna Asaf Ali, Pt Trilok Chand Sharma, Nuruddin Ahmed, and HKL Bhagat held the positions of mayors. In 1959, just after one year of the formation of the MCD, US President Eisenhower visited India. The Mayor of Delhi, Trilok Chand Sharma, shared the stage with him and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the civic reception held at the Ram Lila grounds, New Delhi. The post of Mayor was considered important, but with time, the chair of MCD mayor lost its shine after the trifurcation. 

The MCD Mayor will become more powerful with the unification of the corporations. Along with the power, the chair of the Mayor will have more responsibility. It is expected that the civic services, urban functioning, and overall livability of Delhi city will see a complete makeover with the emergence of the MCD in a new avatar.