The eight-month-long absence of local councillors in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has increased the troubles of the common man. The AAP had won the MCD elections by a majority in December last year, thus ending BJP’s 15-year reign of the corporation. AAP had won 134 of the total 250 wards as the BJP managed to win 104 wards.
With the first meeting of the MCD House adjourned without electing the mayor and deputy mayor amid protests by the AAP councillors over administering of oaths to 10 aldermen – unelected members of the house, the city has been left in disarray. As the elected representatives are yet to be officiated, they have no power to undertake any civic and developmental work in their wards. The oath ceremony was disrupted after a war of words broke out resulting in a ruckus and clash between the two party members.
The MCD councillors ensure the welfare and interests of the people living in their ward. They represent the issues of their wards to the House meetings and get them approved for implementation.
From sanitation, cleanliness, garbage disposal, certification of documents, applying for licenses for health, trade and their renewal, construction permit, upkeep and maintenance of parks & open gyms, payment of property tax, booking of community centres, availing senior citizen & widow pensions, education & health facilities, getting benefits of welfare schemes — there are dozens of services which the citizens get at their doorstep or in close proximity of their area.
Residents of the capital, who are liable to approach their councillors for civic-related grievances, have been left in the lurch.
“I want to get an important document attested from my area councillor and have been waiting for the same for the last four months. Someone suggested visiting the area MLA but I could not find him at his office. It was heard saying that the MLA is busy in state politics and hence hardly comes to his office. Now I am waiting for the swearing-in of my area councillor. There has been no councillor for nearly five months and now, after the elections, the councillor has yet to take the oath to kickstart the work,” said a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase-I not wishing to be named.
“I live in Wazirabad village where mosquito breeding is a major menace. Earlier, I used to request my area councillor for fogging and anti-larval spray but this year it was not possible as there was no councillor. Someone suggested that we approach officials but being a common man I have no idea where and how to meet them for this work. I called one of my friends who is in the media who suggested going to the MCD Zonal office but for that, I will have to spend several hours,” said Naveen Kumar.
Kripa Biswas, a resident of the Mehrauli area informed us that there is a cleanliness issue in his area but he does not know whom to approach. He is waiting for his area councillor to take the oath so he could approach the rising encroachment in his area. “Here I have no idea whom to meet in absence of a councillor for civic-related works. My ward has had no councillor since June last year and as a result, civic works have come to a standstill,” he said.
“I wanted encroachment to be removed from my area but have no idea where to go. My area councillor is yet to take charge and till now we have had no other option other than wait. I think area councillors should start working as soon as possible by assuming charge. The authorities should pay attention to this,” said Sathish Wadhwa, a resident of the Yamuna Vihar area.
“Once we take the oath, we will have the power to stamp documents of area residents, if required. We can allot funds for major civic works and development projects as well. Currently, we can only request the executive wing to take care of the concerns of the residents but cannot resolve them directly. Once we are officiated, we will resolve their issues on priority. For a healthy democracy, the functioning of local bodies must be ensured but the problem is that the entire system has been derailed due to the vested interests of a handful number of people,” says a senior councillor of the MCD.
“For road construction, lights at public parks, open gyms, cleaning of drains and back lanes and many other major works, people directly meet their area councillors. They even approach their councillors for Delhi government-related works as they hardly bother about jurisdiction. We as councillors try to solve them at the earliest and even talk to the concerned departments of the Delhi government. The prime motive of a local body representative is to serve people at the ground level hence there must not be a gap. Surprisingly, there was no representation between May 24, 2022, and December 7, 2023, due to delimitation of wards and now it’s more than 40 days since results were announced,” said another councillor.
“At this juncture when we have been elected but have not taken the oath, people are putting pressure on us for pending works. Since we cannot resolve them directly, we call the concerned officials. On several occasions, officials pay heed to our requests but on some, they do not, citing reasons like fund crises and others. We ask people to attend Jan Sunway of the civic agency but the idea hardly works,” said a senior councillor.
The councillor further added that the MCD allocates funds for councillors which they utilise as per issues on priority. In the case of the Jan Sunwai programme, small issues can be resolved but major issues, it requires separate funds that are issued through ward councillors. With no councillors in office, an official can not fight for funds when there is a funding crisis. Being a local residents, councillors understand the area’s problems and there is no guarantee that an official can understand people’s issues in a similar manner.
“We start our politics from the ground, meet people for years and years and then fight elections. People ensure our victory with lots of expectations hence our responsibility is to fulfil them. Now, since people are approaching us for civic-related issues, we feel helpless and somewhere cheated. If things go in a similar manner we will have to face the anger of the residents. We must not derail the process under any circumstances. Suppose the first House was adjourned without taking oath then the process should be started as early as possible. Unnecessary delay will hamper the development of the national Capital,” said a councillor from the West Delhi area.
The municipal corporation is intended to serve and be responsive to local civic needs. However, unnecessary arguments between political parties, officials' apathy and the lack of political will have not only worsened the functioning of the civic body but also left a bad precedent for their successor.
Interference by L-G unconstitutional: Delhi government
On January 18, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution alleging ‘unconstitutional’ interference by the L-G in conducting elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members of the MCD.
The resolution moved by the ruling party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said that it is concerned about the unconstitutional interference by L-G in the functioning of the MCD, especially the conduct of free and fair elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and member of the standing committee. The House directed the Commissioner of MCD Gyanesh Bharti and the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to ensure the elections are conducted as per the DMC Act and Constitution of India.
Delhi Assembly also directed the Commissioner of MCD to ensure that nominated members in the Corporation are not allowed to vote in the House as stated in Article 243-R of the Constitution and Section 3 of the DMC Act.
L-G-CM rift a cause for concern
Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena over governance of the Capital are likely to hinder the functioning of the MCD even as the elected councillors are waiting to take charge. On the issue of appointing an alderman to the Corporation, a war of words broke out between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and L-G, as the CM termed Saxena’s nomination of 10 aldermen to the MCD House as “unconstitutional”, with the sole purpose of helping the BJP to win the mayoral elections.
They also said that the L-G has no right to appoint the alderman to the Corporation by bypassing the elected government. On the other hand, sources at Raj Niwas clarified the stand of L-G regarding the matter quoting Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the DMC Act 1957. As per the Act, “10 persons who are not less than 25 years of age and who have special knowledge or experience in municipal administration, to be nominated by the administrator, means the L-G of the National Capital Territory of Delhi,” it said.
The Delhi CM had emphasised that democracy, constitution, and law are paramount for the state government and that the L-G must also respect these.
AAP, BJP continue to battle online
Posting the progress of their work on Twitter, the Aam Aadmi Party posted a picture in which the ‘dhalao ghar’ of the Fatehnagar ward number 100, was cleaned in the reign of the AAP while on the other hand, it was littered with garbage at the time BJP was in power.
While posting the picture a caption was also written in Hindi, “With AAP coming to MCD, cleaning of Delhi has started. #AAPCleansDelhi”. In another tweet, two pictures of a particular street in Vinod Nagar were showcased, one shows garbage on the verge of it under BJP’s rule in the corporation, and the other shows a clean road, while the AAP is in control of the MCD.
A caption was also featured in a post in Hindi, “Delhi moving towards cleanliness! #AAPCleansDelhi.” In another picture posted from Shiv Nagar where garbage has been removed from the lane. Prem Chauhan, AAP councillor from DakshinPuri ward earlier said that the MCD officials have already started cleaning the roads and dhalaos in the city.
“The officials of the civic body wanted to work but the BJP did not let them fulfil their duties as they did not have any vision to make Delhi clean. The swachta sainiks of the Corporation are very happy and supporting the AAP as they trust that the Imaandaar Sarkaar is coming to lead the MCD and they will get their salaries on time,” said Chauhan.