Sitting behind a desk in a small, dimly-lit room devoid of any natural ventilation, Bijender Singh (27) helps locals get their identity documents made, renewed or corrected. This one-room with saffron-coloured walls and a low roof led into by a narrow passage along a street in northeast Delhi’s Sunder Nagri municipal ward is one of few Namo Sewa Kendras — one-stop centres — opened by the BJP to reach out to those living in slum clusters and help them get documents made and avail of Centre-run government schemes.
Singh, typing furiously at a laptop, has a group of people waiting to get their voter ID cards made, many of them being first-time voters. “People, mostly young students, are coming in these days to get their Pehchan Patra (voter cards) made, as the civic polls are approaching. I deal with 50-100 such people on a daily basis,” said Singh, who sits at the centre from 9 am to 6 pm and even further, if the crowd is still there. He has been recently appointed as a trainee to run the centre.
The announcement of civic polls dates has now been postponed by the State Election Commission as the Centre is planning reunification of the three corporations, a decade after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated in 2012 by the then Congress government led by Sheila Dikshit.
Even though the polls will have to be deferred if the reunification has to be done, the political parties have been preparing for the battle for long. With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) setting its eyes on wresting the corporations from the BJP, the latter has ramped up its preparations to meet the challenge.
Outreach with eye on fourth term
The BJP has been ruling the corporations for 15 straight years and is eyeing a fourth term. However, it is going to be a tough battle for the party owing to high anti-incumbency and rival AAP running a campaign alleging widespread corruption in the civic bodies. Opening of these Namo Sewa Kendras in slum clusters is an attempt by the BJP to make inroads in JJ colonies, which have been a stronghold of the AAP and before that, of the Congress.
Bijender Singh said the highest number of people usually come to the Sewa Kendra at Sunder Nagri for corrections in their Aadhaar Card (address change) or getting a new one made, but they have to be turned away as the centre has doesn’t have the permission from the district magistrate office yet to get Aadhaar cards made.
“We have applied to the DM office for the same. We have to tell people that we are yet to get permission for the same. Aadhaar is a must to avail of any government scheme and many are left out of the net of welfare programmes for not having a valid proof. People come here with a lot of hope and since the person resolving their issues is from among the community, there is a feeling of trust and expectation,” said Manoj Rajoura, 46, a local BJP worker and the Namo Sewa Kendra pramukh (in-charge).
Rajoura added that Singh, a Class XII pass, is yet to undergo two-day training at the party office to get familiar with all the central government welfare schemes on offer. After the training, he will be paid a monthly salary of Rs 10,000. “I am hoping to get a salary so that I know I am at a regular job. It feels good to resolve people’s problems,” said Singh, who earlier assisted his father who runs a street food cart. Sunita Kumari, 19, who had come to the centre to get her voter card made, said that it was good to have such a centre in the colony, else one has to go far to get the documents made or verified.
Mobilising voters
In a bid to mobilise voters living in JJ clusters, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, who inaugurated the Namo Kendra last month, had last September led a ‘Jhuggi Samman Yatra’ — a 45-day outreach campaign across assembly constituencies with high concentration of slum clusters. During the yatra, the party highlighted the central government’s pro-poor schemes such as the Ujjwala Yojana for cooking gas cylinders and the Sukanya Yojana for education of girls — its major poll plank for the slated civic polls.
Gupta had announced the opening of 100 such Sewa Kendras during the Yatra, which he said was slightly delayed because of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He had announced that these centres will be the single-window system for assistance on availing all Central schemes. “We are developing local leadership from the slum clusters. Locals will be made to head the Kendras and help fellow residents. It will be ensured that slum dwellers get to know about and start benefiting from all welfare policies, whether it is Ayushman Bharat Yojna, Sukanya Samridhi Yojna or making of e-labour card,” he said.
Impact on party prospects
Sunil Kumar, mandal adhyaksh of the Sunder Nagri municipal ward, admitted that the prospects of the party’s victory there are less, as about 65 per cent of the population in the ward comprises Muslims while 30 is Scheduled Caste. The ward has an AAP councillor at present. In 2012, the seat was with the BJP. However, opening of the centre dedicated to ‘serving’ the people has given the party some hope. “The Kendra has drawn many people to it, which has given us hope,” said Kumar.
At another such Kendra located in a farm close to the jhuggi camp in east Delhi’s Yamuna Chilla Khadar, which was closed when this reporter visited there, too, had those mobilised by the party to get their voter cards made, coming in. “The centre was closed, as I had been campaigning for the party in other states and another person who looks after it had to rush to a hospital to help a woman whose child has got an intestine disease. We have been helping her in getting treatment free of cost at a government hospital,” said Sonu Pandit, in-charge of the centre.
Reunification due to fund crunch?
According to BJP leadership, through reunification, it is seeking reforms in the civic bodies which have remained cash-strapped owing to the Delhi government not releasing funds “due” to the civic bodies since AAP came to power in 2015. The erstwhile MCD was trifurcated in 2012 by the then Congress government in an attempt to make inroads into the civic bodies, which had become a BJP bastion by then, as well as to dilute the powers of a single powerful mayor in the city.
At present the three corporations are divided unequally, with the South MCD having the most resources, in terms of highest tax-paying category properties. North MCD has a lower tax payer category with more unauthorised colonies while the East MCD, with its comparatively smaller area, is largely left with unauthorised, resettlement colonies and high-concentration pockets.
Senior party leaders said the Central leadership is likely to bring a bill for reunification of the three corporations in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament, which is to commence on March 14.
Party members said reunification of the MCDs will address the major problem of fund crunch as the Delhi government has stopped the funds due under the Delhi Finance Commission to the civic bodies. On its own, only the South corporation is able to fend for itself, as it has better resources while the functioning of the other two MCDs has been crippled in the absence of funds.
A senior BJP leader said that reunifying the MCDs would be easier than trifurcation. “The Centre will most likely repeal the Act, by the amendment of which the three bodies came into being. They will then present a bill for reunification, which has been a long-standing demand of the state unit, as the corporations have been struggling for funds,” the BJP leader said.
Senior officials in the SEC too said that the Centre was planning to present the Bill regarding reunification in the upcoming Parliament session. “We got to know that they are considering bringing the bill in the upcoming session. We had to wait to examine the proposal, as to what the elections were supposed to be held for. We have sought a legal opinion in the matter and are awaiting the response. It requires a lot of paperwork and consultation,” said a senior official.
Another senior party functionary said that with the reunification, bringing reforms in the civic body will also explored, including extending the term of the mayor. “At present the term of the mayor is one year, which rotates every year with a reserved category candidate and a woman candidate taking the post in alternate years. The party may also consider extending the term of the mayor to over two years to let the person at the helm have more understanding of the work forbetter implementation of policies on ground,” said another BJP leader.
Though civic elections appear to be on hold for now, Vatsala Shrangi reports that BJP is doing all in its power to retain control of MCDs, including its outreach to slum clusters through Namo Sewa Kendras
