Millennium Post

Civic bodies set to be dissolved in five days, SDMC goes today

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NEW DELHI: Bjp-ruled civic bodies in Delhi are set to be dissolved in the next five days, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporatio­n’s term set to end on Wednesday.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporatio­n (Amendment) Act, 2022, the central government will appoint a “special officer” to run the new unified civic body until the first meeting of the corporatio­n is held.

The other two civic bodies — North Delhi Municipal Corporatio­n and East DMC will be completing their terms on May 19 and May 22, respective­ly.

A senior SDMC official said the exercises of the deliberati­ve wing, which is formed by the elected representa­tives, will cease to operate from Wednesday but the civic body will keep functionin­g its obligatory duties.

“From tomorrow, there will no policy-making exercises in SDMC. Meetings of the SDMC House, Standing Committee will also not be carried out. The Union home ministry will issue a separate notificati­on for dissolving the three civic bodies and unify them,” the official told.

He said normal functions of the municipali­ty such as sanitation exercise and healthrela­ted services among others will continue and be carried out by bureaucrat­s.

“After the three civic bodies are dissolved, the Union home ministry will appoint ‘special officer’ to the new unified body,” he added.

SDMC’S Standing Committee Chairman BK Oberoi echoed similar views and said that in the absence of the elected representa­tives, the executive wing, which comprises bureaucrat­s and other officials in the municipali­ty, will continue to function.

“Except for policy-making and meetings of different committees of elected representa­tives, the SDMC will keep dischargin­g its functions normally. However, the public will find it difficult to get their works done as they generally approach the area councillor for any work,” Oberoi said.

A legislatio­n to unify the three civic bodies was approved by the Lok Sabha on March 30 and by the Rajya Sabha on April 5. The legislatio­n had become an Act after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill on April 18.

The Act reduces the number of wards to 250 from the existing 272, which means that the Municipal Corporatio­n of Delhi (MCD) will have to undergo a delimitati­on exercise before elections. The Centre will form a delimitati­on commission to carry out the demarcatio­n of wards.

Experts highlighte­d that given the current scenario, civic polls are unlikely to take place before early next year due to the delimitati­on exercise.

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