MCD split cleared,Cabinet meets today

“Home Minister P Chidambaram has signed the file giving approval for trifurcation of MCD…. My first reaction is of great relief,” Dikshit said soon after meeting Chidambaram along with her Cabinet colleagues.

Senior government officials said the government hopes to physically split the MCD by January so that next year’s municipal elections could be contested for the new municipalities.

The MCD services nine in every 10 of Delhi’s nearly 18 million residents,covering nearly 94 per cent of the city’s area,a job the Dikshit government says is humongous and often leads to inefficiency.

The agency will now be split into three municipalities,with the units for North and South zones having 104 municipal wards each and East zone with 64 wards.

Each municipality will have a separate mayor and deputy mayor and half of its seats will be reserved for women,up from the existing 33 per cent reservation.

Each municipality will have a commissioner who will report to the head of a new Directorate of Local Bodies,which will be set up to coordinate among the three agencies. The Directorate will report to the Home Ministry.

“I am sure the new set up will result in significant improvement in delivery of civic services,” Dikshit said,adding the Home Ministry’s written approval would reach her government by Thursday.

Dikshit said the Delhi Cabinet will meet on Thursday to decide convening a special Assembly session to have a Bill for the split passed,after which it will be sent for final procedural approval to the Central government.

A senior government official said soon after the final approval,the government will start notifying rules and procedures to operationalise the three new civic agencies.

“The government will have to find a headquarters and a House for each agency. The existing MCD staff will also have to be reallocated among other logistics,” an official said.