The decision of the Centre to reunite the three municipal corporations of Delhi into a single entity is obviously a step in the right direction. The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah earlier in the week introduced the Bill for this purpose in Parliament by clearly stating what the objectives of this decision were. Out of the three civic bodies, only the South Delhi municipal corporation was financially viable while the other two were running in huge losses. Shah said that while going into the details of the reasons for trifurcating the municipal body, he could not find any valid rationale. The Home Minister is right since the trifurcation was done because of political motives wherein the then Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit felt threatened by the overbearing influence of the civic body on the political atmosphere of the capital.
She was aware that in day-to-day life, the common man had more dealings with the municipal corporation rather than the Delhi government which she headed. At one time when both the civic body and the government were controlled by the Congress, her party colleague, Ram Babu Sharma, the strongman of the MCD wielded more power and influence than her. This was unacceptable to Dikshit and she persuaded the UPA government at the Centre to bring about the required amendment to trifurcate the MCD. This was done but it added to the woes of the people. In addition, the BJP wrested control of the three corporations thereby leaving the Congress on the sidelines. Now that the Centre has decided to reunite the bodies, the Aam Aadmi Party which was hoping to displace the BJP has accused the union government of politicking. The new body shall not have more than 250 members, they could even be less and if the AAP is indeed in a winning position, it can still vanquish the BJP and thus further consolidate its position in the city. The good thing about the reunification is that it shall restore the prestige of the Mayor’s office.
In any city, the Mayor is the first citizen and when civic receptions are held for visiting dignitaries, he is the one who hands over the key of the city in a symbolic way to the VVIP. Unfortunately, over the years, the bureaucracy has become more powerful than the elected representatives, particularly after the corporation was superseded in December 1989 by the V.P.Singh government. The Centre appointed the Sarkaria-Balakrishnan Committee to go into the question of the multiplicity of authority and end it for better governance of the capital. The report which was finalized by Balakrishnan, a retired bureaucrat, failed to do so and instead made the civil servants more influential than the elected representatives, both in the Delhi government (after the Assembly was formed in 1993) and in the Municipal body. One can only hope that once the unification of the Municipal corporation is completed, the Centre shall ensure that the elected representatives do not play second fiddle to bureaucrats.