India News | MCD Staffers to Be Deployed Likely by Next Week for Delimitation Exercise, Say Officials

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) The delimitation commission will rope in Delhi municipal corporation employees to redraw the boundaries of the wards across the city, officials privy to the matter said on Thursday.

Deployment of the municipal staffers for the exercise is likely to begin by next week, they said.

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The Centre has set up a three-member panel for a fresh delimitation of the municipal wards in Delhi that will pave the way for the first civic polls since the recent reunification of the city's three corporations.

The panel will present its report within four months of its formation.

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"In the last meeting of the delimitation commission on Tuesday, it was decided that the existing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) staff will be used along with the employees of the Delhi State Election Commission for the exercise.

"Short-listed MCD employees are likely to be deployed for the exercise, beginning next week," an official told PTI.

The official said the exact number of MCD employees to be engaged in the delimitation exercise is yet to be ascertained.

"It will be decided in the next meeting of the commission, likely next week. The entire process of delimitation of wards will be completed in four months," the official said.

The official, however, added that the delimitation of wards will begin only with a gazette notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The panel have three members -- Vijay Dev, the Delhi State Election Commissioner who will be its chairman, Pankaj Kumar Singh, the Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Randhir Sahay, the Additional Commissioner of MCD.

The three erstwhile municipal corporations comprised 272 wards -- 104 each in the North and South corporations and 64 in the East. Delhi has 70 Assembly segments.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the number of wards in the national capital will be capped at 250.

Another official said that after completion of the delimitation exercise, the panel will send its report to the Centre for notification following which the process of rotation of wards and other poll exercises will begin.

"We can anticipate that it may take around a year for conducting the MCD polls," the official said.

Officials said digitized maps of the city will be used during the delimitation exercise. Ground surveys will also take place if there is any doubt or clarity is needed, they said.

Delimitation in Delhi was last conducted in 2016 and the number of wards was kept at 272 with each having an average population of 60,000 considering a variation of 10 to 15 per cent.

Municipal polls were slated to be held in Delhi in April this year. They were put on hold hours before then Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava was to announce the schedule on March 8 due to the Centre's plan to reunify the three civic bodies.

The three civic bodies were unified as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on May 22 this year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)