New Delhi, Mar 31 (PTI) Nine councillors of MCD’s Standing Committee, the top executive and decision-making body of the corporation, retired on Tuesday after being selected through a draw of lots as part of the rotation process mandated under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act.
Although the retirement is part of the procedure, the situation has left approval of contracts to manage garbage in South, Central and West zones worth Rs 2,939 crore in limbo.
The proposal was set to be tabled in this meeting. Officials said that another proposal to set up a medical college in north Delhi was to be taken up in the meeting but it will now be taken up in the next meeting after the re-election of the nine members is complete.
According to the outcome, six ward committee members and three House members were excluded by the draw. Of these, six members belong to the BJP and three to AAP. Now in the composition, five councillors from the BJP and four from AAP remain in the committee.
Among those excluded, one member from the House and five from ward committees are from the BJP while AAP saw two members from the House and one from a ward committee being left out.
Shikha Bharadwaj, Indrajeet Sehrawat, Rajpal Singh, Anju Devi, Nema Bhagat and Pankaj Luthra of the BJP, and Ankush Narang, Mohini Jeenwal and Amil Malik of AAP are the nine councillors who exited the standing committee via draw of lots on Tuesday.
The members who retired from ward committees are Shikha Bhardwaj, Anju Devi, Indrajeet Sehrawat, Rajpal Singh and Neema Bhagat of the BJP, and Ankush Narang of AAP.
Those who retired from among members elected by the House are Pankaj Luthra of the BJP, and Mohini Jeenwal and Aamil Malik of AAP.
Meanwhile, Praveen Kumar, AAP councillor and member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) raised objections over both alleged irregularities in the civic body’s town planning wing and the procedure followed in convening a committee meeting.
Leader of Opposition and AAP councillor Ankush Narang said that without the agenda item 52, a pending issue from February 18 was being formally passed on Tuesday.
In a letter to the commissioner, Councillor Praveen Kumar flagged what he described as serious irregularities in the office of the chief town planner, including alleged rule violations in housing conversions, delays in approvals and undue benefits to select individuals.
He sought an independent probe by central vigilance agencies, saying a departmental inquiry would not be sufficient.
In a separate communication to the standing committee chairperson, Kumar questioned the legality of a meeting scheduled for March 31 at 1 pm.
He said, “The previous meeting held on March 30 was adjourned without announcing the next date, making the new meeting a ‘fresh’ one that required a mandatory 72-hour notice under the rules.” Kumar argued that since such notice was not given, the proposed meeting was procedurally invalid.
The standing committee is the top executive and decision-making body of the MCD, with 18 members. It handles key financial functions, approves projects and plays a central role in shaping, finalising and implementing policies for the city.
Of the 18 members, six are elected by the House and 12 by ward committees. The panel elects a chairperson and a deputy chairperson from among its members. The party holding a majority in the committee exercises significant influence over policy and financial decisions. PTI VBH VBH KSS KSS
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