MCDs in spotlight, NDMC basks in glow of Centre seat, Lutyens’ Delhi

How is the NDMC different from the MCDs?

While the three municipal corporations encompass about 96 per cent of Delhi’s area, the remaining area comes under the jurisdiction of the NDMC (3 per cent) and the Delhi Cantonment Board (1 per cent). A major difference between the NDMC and the corporations is that the former’s representatives are nominated by the Centre. In the MCDs’ case, elections are held every five years to elect their representatives in 272 wards across the city, and their mayors are selected from among these corporators.

The NDMC is a 13-member Council whose chairperson, a government official, is appointed by the Centre in consultation with the Delhi Chief Minister. It includes two members of the Delhi Assembly representing constituencies which fall partly or fully in the New Delhi area; five members nominated by the Centre from among government officers; four members nominated by the Centre from among representatives of the society such as lawyers, doctors, traders and artists; and the MP from the New Delhi constituency.

What are the functions of the NDMC and the MCDs?

The functions of Delhi’s five civic bodies remain largely the same, irrespective of their governance structure. They run primary schools, hospitals and dispensaries. They are also mandated with the task of implementing building bye-laws, administering vaccines and providing services such as birth and death registration as well as cremation and burial services.

The NDMC, however, has additional services under its control such as electricity and water distribution. Earlier, water supply in rest of the city was under the corporations’ ambit, but it was later taken over by a separate authority under the Delhi government.

Why was the NDMC formed?

The NDMC’s genesis could be traced from a civic body called the Imperial Delhi Committee set up in 1913, two years after the then British government decided to shift India’s capital from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi. In 1916, the committee was named the Raisina Municipal Committee, which was upgraded in the succeeding years. In 1925, it had 10 members appointed by the local government and was allowed to generate revenue by imposing property tax. Some administrative functions were also handed over to the panel. In 1927, it became the New Delhi Municipal Committee. When the new British capital in Delhi was formally inaugurated in 1931, the body was made responsible for affairs related to buildings, roads, sewers and public health. It was finally renamed the New Delhi Municipal Council in 1994.

The areas, residents and facilities that come under the NDMC’s ambit make it a unique civic body in the country. The belt under its civic jurisdiction is primarily Lutyens’ Delhi, where the houses and offices of the President, the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Parliamentarians, and a legion of top functionaries of the executive and the judiciary are located.

The NDMC areas outside Lutyens’ Delhi house central government employees. Its other residents include those living in unauthorised camps and colonies in some areas.

According to officials, the Government of India owns about eighty percent of the buildings in the NDMC area. “Private ownership of property in this area is marginal… Efficient function of the Municipal services in this area is critical for the internal image of the country and is a factor which has an important bearing on the functioning of the Government apparatus itself,” says the NDMC website. “Historically, this area has enjoyed a system of Local Government very different from other parts of the National Capital Territory. On account of these special characteristics, it was felt that any scheme for the governance of this area based on conventional pattern of representative local self-government, would be unworkable and out of place since the pre-eminent character of this area is that of the seat of the Central Government,” the NDMC states.