Birth to death services under one roof: How Delhi’s expansion to 13 districts makes citizen lives easier

When will the new administrative structure take effect?

The Capital currently has 11 revenue districts, headed by respective district magistrates, while the city is divided into 12 MCD zones, led by respective deputy commissioners.

Under the new plan, the city gets three new districts —  Outer North, Central North and Old Delhi. Meanwhile, areas under Shahdara district have been redistributed in Northeast and East districts.

The gazette notification for the redrawing of boundaries will be issued within 15 days and the reorganisation will be completed by the end of this month, said officials. The government has sanctioned a budget of Rs 25 crore for the move.

CM Rekha Gupta termed the decision as a “historic” step towards adapting Delhi’s administrative system to the requirements of the 21st century. Gupta added that in a metropolis like Delhi, smaller, balanced, and administratively empowered districts are necessary for improved coordination of services, faster grievance redressal, and effective monitoring.

How will citizens benefit?

All of these districts will have a mini secretariat, where citizens will be able to access numerous services such as revenue offices, and sub-registrar offices at a single location.

The number of sub-divisions have also been increased from existing 33 to 39 and sub-registrar offices increased from 22 to 39.

According to former Delhi Chief Secretary and MCD commissioner Rakesh Mehta, the move to establish mini secretariats will be particularly helpful.

“If all services, like marriage registration, birth and death registration, land registration, building permits, alteration approvals, common area disputes, basically everything from the birth to death, are available under a single roof, it would be very convenient for citizens since many disputes have to be resolved by multiple stakeholders such as the district administration, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the police coming together,” he said.

Explaining why the overhaul ensures convenience for citizens, Kumar Abhishek, DM (North), said, “This is a step towards making boundaries of all departments co-terminus so that there is homogeneity in administration, administrative as well as citizen convenience. There will also be better coordination with DM playing the critical role in monitoring and coordination at district level.”

What problems existed with the previous administrative setup?

The non-alignment of MCD zones and revenue districts had led to confusion for citizens.

“Currently, in many areas, the revenue district and MCD zone boundaries do not align. Due to the jurisdiction issue, people face challenges in getting any work done. For instance, if a person living in Mayur Vihar needs to get any land-related work done in Shahdara, the MCD zone might fall in Shahdara but the revenue district will be East… he would end up running from one office to another,” an official had previously told The Indian Express.