more for pedestrians. What is not
taken over for commerce is taken
over as informal urinals. And what
choice do people have anyway?
The area under the MCD’s and
NDMC require almost 45000 public
conveniences, but don't even have a
small fraction of that. To compound
matters 18.4% of Delhi homes do
not have toilets, which means most
open spaces and public spaces are
dumping grounds- literally. But the
corporations are clearly financially
strapped.
East Delhi Standing Committee
chairperson B B Tyagi lays out his
corporation’s predicament clearly:
“Our monthly expenditure is
around Rs 100 crores. This amounts
to Rs 1,200 crores annually. The
revenue generated every year,
however, is just Rs 700-750 crores.”
Tyagi adds: “There are around 5-6
lakh properties, of which a little
over 2 lakh properties pay tax.
Moreover, there are at least 30
unauthorized colonies in this zone
and we do not collect any property
tax from these areas.” But collection
of taxes from these properties is
going to be politically unpopular,
and no elected government courts
unpopularity even if it is for better
government.
The North Municipal
Corporation generates nearly Rs
1,400 crores in revenue annually;
its annual expenditure is over Rs
2,100 – Rs 2,200 crores — a gap
of nearly Rs 7-800 crores. The
revenue and expenditure mismatch
is obvious. In addition to their
primary civic duties the three
MCD’s are saddled with 715 schools
with 3.5 lakh children and five
hospitals. Half of their expenditures
are on health and education.
Clearly they are left with nothing
for capital expenditures. Hence the
corporations have to depend on
handouts. But the hand that gives
will always insist on knowing how
the money was spent?
In shining contrast to the three
corporations sliced out from
the erstwhile MCD, the NDMC
territory comprising of Lutyens
Delhi, the abodes and workplaces of
the high and mighty, most of Delhi’s
five-star hotels, market places and
office buildings, all situated in a
golden area of about 43 km2 is a
symbol of financial stability and
plenty. It had a surplus of Rs.335.4
crores last year.
Clearly the corporations cannot
cope with needing the civic needs
of its citizens and their revenue
bases. One way to make the spread
of money more even and to ensure
distributive justice would be to
merge all the corporations into
one big unit where the revenues
can be spread evenly. It cannot be
argued that the success of NDMC
areas is because of spends by local
residents only. All the people of
Delhi make the NDMC areas tony
with their patronage and taxes.
The other way of dealing with this
would be to shear the MCD’s lists of
responsibilities significantly.
Why should the corporations
run schools and hospitals when the
Delhi government too does that?
These can be transferred to the
state government. The corporations
should be tasked only with urban
management and civic services.
Many of the civic services that the
corporations provide are very basic
but it is a high cost operation for
them because of the government
pay structure. These can be
outsourced to contractors whose
wage structures are infinitely low.
The corporations should be asked
to give Ways and Means financial
projections for the next few years
now, before seeking new funds.
Clearly this will involve conflicts
between the political players who
will fight to either protect or extend
their turfs. That's where the national
leadership has a role. It should travel
the high road and seek solutions
for our problems rather than piling
them up. Like the overflowing
garbage tells us. This is the time
for Prime Minister Modi to act. He
promised us better government and
less government. This is the place to
start.
www.smartgovernance.in | February 2020 39