Union cabinet approves Bill for unification of all 3 Municipal Corporations of Delhi

New Delhi: The union cabinet has approved a Bill to merge three municipal corporations of Delhi and it is likely to be introduced in the Parliament soon, news agency PTI reported citing government sources.

Reacting to the development, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the unification of three MCDs could have been done long back and that it is simply a ploy to delay the pending elections of MCD.

Early this month, the State Election Commission had said the Union government was planning to bring a bill in the Budget Session of parliament to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi and since the poll panel was examining the communication from Baijal, it had decided to defer the announcement of election schedule of the civic body.

The national capital has five local bodies namely the North, East and South Delhi municipal corporations, the Delhi Cantonment Board and the New Delhi Municipal Council.

The majority of Delhi’s area is covered by the North, South and East Delhi corporations. These three corporations were known as a single entity as Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) before 2012.

The then Sheila Dixit government in 2012 decided to trifurcate the MCD.

Meanwhile, the resident welfare associations here called for an audit of the performance of municipal departments and more involvement of civil society in the unification process.

In a letter to Delhi Lt Governor Ani Baijal on Monday, the United Resident Joint Action of Delhi (URJA) welcomed the announcement of unification of the three municipalities, but expressed concerns over the methodology “with which the process of unification of municipality is undergoing”.

Further, the union cabinet has also increased the minimum support price (MSP) of raw jute by ₹250 to ₹4,750 per quintal for the 2022-23 season. The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

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