The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared the NDMC Amendment Bill 2010, which seeks to make the member of Parliament from New Delhi constituency a member of the New Delhi Municipal Council with voting rights. Also, the total number of MLAs as members of the council will be reduced from three to two. The bill, seeking to amend the NDMC Act (1994), will be tabled in Parliament during its monsoon session.
With the bill having been cleared, Union minister of state for home affairs, Ajay Maken, will now be a council member with voting rights, as he represents the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency. The MP was earlier a member of the council but did not have the voting rights. The Estimates Committee of the 14th Lok Sabha had recommended making the New Delhi MP a member with voting rights in the Council.
Under the new amendment, the chief minister, if representing an area falling in New Delhi — as is the case with Ms Sheila Dikshit — will preside over the meeting. If not, then Mr Maken will preside over the council meetings, as he is both the New Delhi MP and a minister. If none of the two are present, then the chairperson of the council will hold the meetings. Under the current arrangement, the chairperson holds the meetings. Incidentally, Mr Maken, who was a minister under Ms Dikshit, is often seen as the latter’s detractor.
Due to protocol issues, the elected members did not use to attend the council meetings. With the amendments, it will give the elected members a much bigger role in decision making process of the council, said Union information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni.
In the new set up, the only MLA from the main Opposition party BJP, Mr Karan Singh Tanwar, who represents Delhi Cantonment, may be left out. The two MLAs representing areas that fully or partially fall in New Delhi are Ms Tajdar Babar from Minto Road and Ms Dikshit from Gole Market, both of whom are from Congress.
Among the other proposed amendments, the number of representatives from the Scheduled Castes will be increased from one to two. Further, the amendment bill also envisages increasing the number of members from other fields from two to four.