Delhi Chief Minister Tries To Get Full Statehood For Delhi

The ground on which Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his government are demanding statehood for the national capital is quite strong. The topic has been a key highlight of elections manifestos of the two major political parties of the country —the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—for years. (Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has prepared a detailed “primer” over this.) With plans to make Delhi's statehood issues come true, the Kejriwal government has prepared the draft State Of Delhi Act, 2016, and has sought public opinion on this.

What happens when Delhi becomes a state?

It should be recalled that the 70-member Union Territory (UT) elected its first Legislative Assembly in 1993, crucial matters of law and order, and land are still under the purview of the Centre. This is why the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the Delhi Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) fall under the Central government's purview. Delhi's lieutenant governor, too, is the Centre's representative.

When Delhi becomes a state, all the three bodies will be work under the state government, the word “governor” will replace “lieutenant governor” and the nominative head of the government “act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers as provided in Article 163 of the Constitution”.

In brief, the capital city will become more powerful than it today is.

How will this change the way Delhi functions?

Due to the dual nature of responsibilities, issues that arise in the national capital see a bitter blame game between the UT administration and the Centre. CM Kejriwal, for instance, on many occasions has blamed the Centre's undue intervention in state matters and has cited the same as the reason why development in Delhi has not been at a pace he promised in his election campaign. In fact, the “primer” of the State Act begins on a note showing the UT government's inability to do things because key government bodies report to the Centre.

“How can the Delhi government ensure efficient and effective land usage and allocation for its people and welfare programmes if it has no say in it?”, asks the primer while making a case for the DDA to function under the state.

On the role of the Delhi Police, the primer goes further ahead. “The Delhi Police is currently not responsive or accountable to the people of Delhi.”

The political attack is more personal when the primer talks about the MCD. “As a local body which is supposed to work on health, education and sanitation, the synchronisation in utilisation of resources is extremely poor. The BJP-run MCD is also terribly planned, extremely corrupt and fiscally imprudent.”

When the power over these bodies will be centred in the hands of the state, it would be much easier to run them and fix accountability.

Will the Bill pass this time?

It is to be noted that 67 of the 70 Assembly seats in the Delhi Legislative Assembly are held by members of the AAP and the process to pass the Bill may be smooth, if the UT government decides to go ahead with the Act.

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