Delhi civic bodies: Unification easier than trifurcation but key challenges will remain

Offices would have to be merged, and employees brought under one umbrella, which is relatively easier to implement as the number of zones would remain the same, said one official.

K S Mehra, the last commissioner of the unified corporation from February 2009 to May 2012, said this is a step in the right direction.

“The idea behind the trifurcation was a decentralised corporation but in reality, it was already decentralised as there are 12 zones in the three corporations, which would continue to be even if it is merged,” he said.

“In my book, The State of the Capital, I had written that the trifurcation of the three MCDs was not a right step and we were not consulted,” he said.

A senior official of the South corporation said that creating one office would not lead to major financial savings for the MCDs.

“The salaries of the commissioners would be around Rs 25 lakh per year. Taking into account mayor offices, standing committees and other heads, which would be cut down to one from the current three, one would save a maximum of Rs 50 crore. This is not enough to save MCDs from the financial crisis,” he said.

The current budget deficit of the South MCD, which is in a better position than the North and the East, is around Rs 500 crore. The total budget deficit is around Rs 2,000 crore.

Former director of the press and information wing of the North MCD Yogendra Singh Mann said it is not just about money, and that unification has a lot of other advantages.

“Firstly, there would be a balance of resources, income, and expenses. Presently, North regularly suffers from a delay of salaries, After this, there will be uniformity,” he said.

Also, the planning would be better as there would be a centralised authority in terms of the parking rates, property tax and new initiatives for the city, he said.

An official from the East corporation said that unification alone would not lead to anything until other problems are fixed. “The financial arrangements need to be sorted. The corporations must be given their dues and planning on remunerative projects needs to be done.”

“The planning, if done well, will help the MCDs recover, else it will harm all the three MCDs’ financial condition,” he said.

“The mayors and commissioners of a unified MCD will have a bigger say in the city but it should be backed by better avenues to generate money and by plugging corruption,” he said.