Municipal Corporation Of Delhi

The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to a population of about 20 million citizens in the capital city Delhi. It is headed by the Mayor of Delhi, who presides over elected councillors from 250 wards. The municipal corporation covers an area of 1,397.3 km² (539.5 mi²). The annual budget of the corporation is above ₹16,000 crore (~US$1.95 billion).

Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Logo of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Type
Type	Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Term limits	5 years
Established	7 April 1958
Leadership
Mayor	Shelly Oberoi, AAP since 22 February 2023
Deputy Mayor	Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, AAP since 22 February 2023
Municipal commissioner	Gyanesh Bharti, IAS since 22 May 2022
Structure
Seats	250 (elected) + 10 (nominated)
Political groups	Government (134)   AAP (134) Official Opposition (104)   BJP (104) Others(12)   INC (9)   IND (3) Nominated (10)   NOM (10)
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	4 December 2022
Next election	2027
Meeting place
MCD Civic Centre, Minto Road, New Delhi
Website
mcdonline.nic.in

MCD is one of three municipalities in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the others being New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) which administers the New Delhi area and Delhi Cantonment Board which administers the Delhi cantonment area. It is the largest and only municipality of Delhi which is elected by the people.

 

MCD came into existence on 7 April 1958 under an Act of Parliament. Prior to that DMC (Delhi Municipal Committee) was the principal civic body of Delhi. Guru Radha Kishan served for the longest consecutive period as a councilor of the MCD (initially Delhi Municipal Committee). Pt. Trilok Chand Sharma served as the first elected Mayor of Delhi. Since then, the Municipal Body has always been alive in its constitution and functioning to the growing needs of citizens. The 1993 amendment of the Act brought about fundamental changes in composition, functions, governance and administration of the corporation.

Trifurcation

On 13 January 2012, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was 'trifurcated', i.e. split into three smaller municipal corporations. The new North Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporation each contain 104 municipal wards, while the smaller East Delhi Municipal Corporation contains 64 wards.

Reunification

In March 2022, the state Election Commission indefinitely deferred the municipal elections that were scheduled to be held in April 2022. On 22 March, the Union Government approved the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill to merge the 3 municipal corporations back to a single body. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 30 March 2022, while it was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 5 April 2022. The unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi formally came into existence on 22 May 2022 with IAS officers Ashwani Kumar and Gyanesh Bharti taking charge as Special Officer and Commissioner, respectively. Election was held on 4 December 2022, with Aam Aadmi Party winning the majority of seats.

The entire MCD area is divided into 12 zones:

Ward Committees of Delhi MCD

Each Zone has a ward committee, which consists of all the councillors elected from that ward. These ward committees are structures meant to decentralise administrative powers, and provide local solutions for local problems.

The Standing Committee is the highest decision making executive body of MCD and consists of 18 members. It manages the corporation with financial functions, approval to projects, discussing, finalising and implementing the policies for the capital city etc. It also has powers to appoint sub-committees on issues such as education, environment, parking etc and form regulations.

While 6 of the Committee members are elected directly by the house, the remaining 12 are chosen by ward committees. The committee also has a chairperson and a deputy chairperson, who are elected from among the members. The political party which has majority in the Standing Committee has control over policy and financial decisions of the House.

Members of Standing Committee

1. Kamaljeet Shehrawat (BJP)
2. Gajendra Daral (BJP)
3. Pankaj Luthra (BJP)
4. Mohini Jindwal (AAP)
5. Aamil Malik (AAP)
6. Ramindra Kaur (AAP)

As of 2011^[update] India census, Delhi Municipal Corporation had a population of 11,007,835. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Delhi Municipal Corporation has an average literacy rate of 87.6%, higher than the national average of 74.0%: male literacy is 91.44% and, female literacy is 83.20%. In Delhi Municipal Corporation, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

2022 election

Results were announced on 7 December 2022.

Parties		Popular vote			Seats (126 needed for majority)
		Votes	%	± %	Contested	Won	+/-
	Aam Aadmi Party	30,84,957	42.05%	15.82%	250	134	85
	Bharatiya Janata Party	28,67,472	39.09%	3.01%	250	104	77
	Indian National Congress	8,56,593	11.68%	9.41%	247	9	22
	Independent	2,53,631	3.46%			3	3
	Others	2,15,627	2.94%			0	5
	NOTA	57,545	0.78%
Total		73,35,825	100%			250

2017 election

The votes were counted and result was declared on 26 April 2017.

North Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Seats won	Seats +/−	Vote %
	Bharatiya Janata Party		64	5	35.63
	Aam Aadmi Party		21	21	27.88
	Indian National Congress		16	13	20.73
	Others		3	13	15.76
Total			104	-	100

South Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Seats won	Seats +/−	Vote %
	Bharatiya Janata Party		70	26	34.87
	Aam Aadmi Party		16	16	26.44
	Indian National Congress		12	17	20.29
	Others		6	25	18.40
Total			104	-	100

East Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Seats won	Seats +/−	Vote %
	Bharatiya Janata Party		47	12	38.61
	Aam Aadmi Party		12	12	23.40
	Indian National Congress		3	16	22.84
	Others		2	8	15.15
Total			64	-	100

2012 election

The votes were counted and result was declared on 17 April 2012.

North Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Wards won
	Bharatiya Janata Party		59
	Indian National Congress		29
	Bahujan Samaj Party		7
	Others		9
Total			104

South Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Wards won
	Bharatiya Janata Party		44
	Indian National Congress		29
	Bahujan Samaj Party		5
	Others		26
Total			104

East Delhi Municipal Corporation

Party		Symbol	Wards won
	Bharatiya Janata Party		35
	Indian National Congress		19
	Bahujan Samaj Party		3
	Others		7
Total			64