Sir — This refers to the article, “The city of Questions and Few Answers” (April 22) by Ashok Malik. The writer has rightly lamented about the multiplicity of municipal corporations in the capital city which overlap one another in functions and development. With 1,500sq km of area, Delhi has to elect seven MPs, 70 MlAs for an Assembly and 272 corporators for three corporations — in north, south and east.
Each Member of Parliament gets five crore rupees MPlAD fund for development and an MlA gets four crore rupees every year for the same. A corporator, on the other hand gets Rs 25-60 lakh each, which varies according to the situation of the party. The results of these funds is not visible on the ground.
There is consequential overlapping, and other complexities arise as a result. The writer has rightly called for the abolition of at least one surplus body, which also includes the cantonment board and New Delhi municipal committee. If these decisions are taken, they will check corruption, multiplicity and overlapping. The idea needs to be seriously examined.