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Cong. Councillors to meet PM over Act amendment

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MARCH 7. Leaders of the ruling Congress in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi have decided to meet the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to request him for an early amendment to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act so that the people-friendly Unit Area system of assessment of property becomes a reality from the next financial year beginning April 1.

The report of the Dharmarajan Committee that recommended implementation of the harassment-free Unit Area system in the Capital has been approved by the Delhi Cabinet and is expected to reach the Union Government early next week for approval.

``Now the ball is in the Centre's court. So we have decided to meet Mr. Vajpayee and seek his good offices for implementation of Unit Area system in Delhi,'' said the Leader of the House in MCD, Ram Babu Sharma. Mr. Vajpayee would be requested for an appointment as soon as the Delhi Government sends the draft bill approved by the Cabinet to the Union Government. "We are just waiting for it,'' he said.

Mr. Sharma said if the Union Government gave its green signal then the proposed bill "could be passed'' by the Delhi Assembly during its forthcoming budget session beginning March 17. "With the Parliament Budget session continuing till May, the Unit Area system could well become a reality very soon. But, all depends on the Union Government which is ruled by the BJP. We hope that the BJP which is in Opposition in both MCD and the Delhi Government would not try to politicise such an important issue,'' he hoped.

Otherwise, he warned that the Congress would have no other option but to take the matter to the public.

Earlier, the senior BJP Councillor in the Standing Committee, Vijender Kumar, alleged that the relief being provided to the needy and the poor was being withdrawn under the proposed Unit Area system. "House tax has being proposed to be imposed even on the slum clusters. Even people living in urban villages, resettlement colonies who were exempted from house tax would have to pay in the new system,'' he alleged.

Mr. Kumar claimed that the draft bill approved by the Delhi Cabinet was very harsh on defaulters. "People can be imprisoned up to seven years if found to be wilful defaulters. Such a provision would only strengthen the inspector raj instead of eliminating it as is being claimed by the Congress,'' he said.

Reiterating his party's stand in the MCD that the elected representatives of the civic body were not taken into confidence over the report, he alleged the Delhi Government was interfering in its functioning.

The charges were however, denied by Mr. Sharma who claimed that the Dharmarajan Committee report was first submitted to the Delhi Mayor, the Municipal Commissioner and himself who then gave it to the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. "This was done with the objective that the system could be implemented at the earliest,'' he said.

Mr. Sharma clarified that every thing including the house tax rates, categorisation and exemption would be decided by the Standing Committee of the MCD and no one else. "This is MCD's prerogative and no one can take our rights,'' he asserted.

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