Classes With News18: All You Need to Know About Delhi MCD Polls, Process And Rules

​ For the last two years, the world has been restricted to homes. Daily activities that couldn’t be managed without stepping out, came indoors all at once — from office to grocery shopping and schools. As the world accepts the new normal, News18 launches weekly classes for school children, explaining key chapters with examples from happenings around the world. While we try to simplify your subjects, a request to break down a topic can be tweeted @news18dotcom.

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Shelly Oberoi won the Delhi Municipal Corporation Elections. Her election was unopposed as Bhartiya Janta Party candidate Shikha Rai withdrew her nomination last minute. This gives us the opportunity to look at how MCD polls are conducted and what process and rules are followed. So let’s get started!

HISTORY OF MCD

It was in 1992 when our policymakers amended the constitution in what today is known as the 74th amendment to the constitution. This 74th amendment established the ground for local self-governments in our country. This led to the formation of Panchayat systems in rural India and introduced Municipalities in urban India. Even before the amendment of the constitution, Indian history accounts that back in 1862, there was an existence of a body in Delhi similar to that municipality.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi was officially established on April 7, 1958, by an act of Parliament, Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. In Old Delhi, the famous Delhi Town Hall at Chandni Chowk was the seat of the MCD from 1866 till late 2009. Later the MCD office was shifted to the new MCD Civic Centre on Minto Road in Central Delhi. In 1993, legislators amended the MCD Act of Parliament and brought about fundamental changes in the composition, functions, governance, and administration of the corporation. The amended act of 1993 abolished the practice of alderman, and increased the number of councilors to 134, besides the members of the Lok Sabha who represent wholly or partly the constituencies of the municipal corporation. Earlier, the MCD was divided into three different zones and was reunified earlier this year by the centre.

MCD MEMBERS AND RESERVATION OF MAYOR POST

One-fifth of the members from the Delhi Legislative Assembly is represented in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in turn every year. All the MPs elected from Delhi are members of these corporations according to their parliamentary constituencies. In this way, the Delhi government nominates MLAs every year in the prescribed proportion from the Vidhan Sabha to the corporations.

The Mayor of the MCD is the highest-ranking official in the municipal government of the capital. The Mayor is elected for five single-year terms on a rotation basis. It is the member of the MCD who selects the mayor of the capital. In case of a tie between two candidates, the special commissioner is charged with the responsibility to oversee the election through a special draw of lots. Currently, Gyanesh Bharti has assumed the charge of the special commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Voting for the MCD is completed through a secret ballot. Apart from councilors, the nominated MPs and MLAs can vote in the elections. Any councilor elected in the MCD can vote for any candidate of his/her choice and the anti-defection law does not apply in the municipal elections. For the reservation of the backward classes for the post of Mayor, MCD has categorised its first year of governance for women in the Mayor post, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two also for the open category.

It is the task of the mayor to conduct elections for the post of Deputy Mayor and six members of the standing committee. The provision is mentioned under sections 35(1) and 45(1)(i) of the Act respectively. It is the mayor who presides over all meetings of the Delhi Municipal Corporation and in case of absence, the deputy mayor assumes the mayor’s duties.

FUNCTIONS OF MCD

Our constitution has mandated certain functions for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi like urban planning, land and building regulations, economic and social development, developing infrastructure, water supply management, health and sanitation, and other related works.

To learn about other topics taught in school, explained by News18, here is a list of other Classes With News18: Queries Related to Chapters on Elections | Sex Versus Gender | Cryptocurrencies | Economy & Banks | How to Become President of India | Post Independence Struggle | How India Adopted Its Flag | Formation of States & United India | Tipu Sultan | Indian Teachers Day Different from Rest of the World |Queen Elizabeth & Colonialism |

Read all the Latest Education News here