Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity. We have heard a lot of talk about rising above politics. But, for the last half-an-hour, all I heard was a level of politics that would rather suit the Delhi Legislative Assembly–I respect it–more than this House. Be that as it may, we have risen to–because we are duty bound to–stand up for federalism that holds this country together, in spite of whatever some temporary occupants of power may think they have. This country has essentially survived on the spirit of heterogeneity. Don’t go in for homogeneity; don’t go in for trampling; don’t go in for one-way-decisions. The very decision that you have taken or about to take or asking us to
endorse is the one that speaks of control. The former speaker, Mr. Singhvi, has already mentioned about these things. In 2011, after several discussions, three bodies were trifurcated out of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. You know that and I know that. The hon. Home Minister, who has included the topic of not speaking on politics only, mentions that they have a revenue deficit. Fair enough. If one has a revenue deficit of two, the other has a revenue deficit of three and the third has a revenue deficit of four. If you add them together, you get minus two, minus three, minus four, minus nine! Where to get the positive from? Administration has been my occupation. So, I would know that just making reunification of three desperate bodies that were split for an administrative reason doesn’t confer
ipso facto any virtue of revenue stability. That is my first point. The second, I would say, is a question of compactness of administration. Do I take this as a hint that you would not go in for splitting of unwieldy States, that you would not go in for splitting of unwieldy administration that you are back to control through large unwieldy and unmanageable bodies? You can provide the answer. Talking of size, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation are larger in size. But, we have been managing and we are managing. So, don’t bring in size there. The sum and substance of what I have understood is that you desire to postpone the elections. That is all. Because once you go in for a step like this, it will go in for delimitation and that delimitation will take you eighteen months. Therefore, effectively you are bringing a municipal issue into a national issue because, exactly two years from today, you will be facing a national consensus and a national referendum. So, I would submit that we do not break down every institution that we have just for retention of power. When we talked about it, I mentioned about one institution, the Director of Local Bodies. The present Act has a Director of Local Bodies as some sort of an over-watch. In the Amendment, you are wiping out the post of Director of Local Bodies without explanation. Even on revenue, you have not provided an explanation, but just a one-liner saying that ‘revenue is deficit’. I would submit, Sir, even if you have to tamper with institutions, please go in for an explanation as to why you did away with it. Maybe you have some valid reason, but you need to be more elaborate, more transparent. There is a talk that 272 seats would be compacted into 250. Clause 5(5) mentions that the Central Government will decide the number of seats to be decided by the Government of India. The overwhelming presence of a Government,
that the Central Government in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, is unbearably omnipresent. It is there everywhere. It does not speak the spirit of local body, its autonomy, its spontaneity, its vibrancy of local decision making, not thrusting down from the top. This is what hurts us and my party sincerely believes in it. Having spoken on the number of seats, as I said, it is not 250. Let us come out openly and say, tomorrow if the Central Government decides to make it 370, it can make it. You are keeping that empowering provision. Sir, we are in 2022 when there has been so much talk of the scourge, the curse of scavenging, scavenging and waste disposal. There has been one word on scavenging. That’s all. Scavenging and waste disposal should have been occupied because the spirit of this Act would be copied in other parts of India and you should have provided a model even if you had political compulsions going for it. There is nothing about scavenging, nothing about the curse of scavenging. You have
provided for e-Governance. E-Governance, Sir will be happening anyway, whether you provide for it or not. When you merge all these bodies, what happens is, you bring in different cadres. They are humans; they are families. When you bring them together, all this seniority and juniority and other things get in. Morale gets affected; motivations get affected. When you are amalgamating banks, you don’t know, it will take you ten years for the issues to be sorted out. An hon. Member mentioned about Rs. 12,000 crores. My account says that there is a Rs. 11,800 crore running deficit. That is what is required, a bail-out package, for whoever runs the Government. It doesn’t matter. It is for the citizens of Delhi in spite of all the faults that it has. The total liability is Rs. 11,800 crores. When will the package come? Is it tied to this deal? That is what we would like to know. I repeat, we got up primarily because the Delhi Assembly was not consulted. My party sincerely believes in consulting with every elected body at every level. We may take their opinion or not, but we need to consult them. I would like to give you just a few examples, because they strengthen what we have said. Even in Covid, we had prepared an Act. I was also part of the preparation once
upon a time. The NDMA Act was brought in as if it was a weapon that could be utilised for the totalisation of power. That is not the correct attitude. The initial faltering that we made, the mistakes that we made as a nation arises
from the mentality of control, control-freak as somebody put it. Even in Covid, there was no consultation at all, when the lockdown was imposed. At every level, at every step, shows an arrogance, if I may put it, shows an uncaring attitude for the sensitivities of others, for regions, for States as if just a pack of people sitting in Delhi, including bureaucrats, would determine the fate of every mohalla of Delhi. No, Sir, this will not do. When the BSF rules were extended to all States, no consultation was made. This is another thing. Draconian laws and regulations are sought to be expanded at the expense and by contraction of space available for individual, society, local Government and
the State Government. That is my submission. Sir, even the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are regularly used as weapons to summon, humiliate and hegemonize over others. It is happening all the time. Even in Delhi, I would submit, … Sir, I will take half a minute and wrap it up. The submission that I have, as an outsider to this politics of Delhi, is that this is only a ploy to postpone elections and that is dependent upon the prospect of their victory. So, don’t treat the National Capital as just a trump card in your politics. I oppose the Bill, Sir. Thank you.