Delhi, officially known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the capital of the largest Democracy in the world. Apart from its indispensable historical importance and cultural diversity, it is also important due to its unique system of governance.
Delhi has the status of ‘NCT’ which means that it is not a state but a special form of a union territory, people elect a Government in Delhi by sending their elected representatives from the 70 assembly constituencies like any other state. Though this elected government has very restricted powers in reality compared to other states of the Union. As per the Constitution, the Legislative assembly of Delhi cannot make laws on 3 subjects namely ‘Land’, ’Police’ and ‘Public Order’, unlike other states, who have full powers of making laws on these subjects. Also, in May 2015 the Central government took away the control of the Delhi Government over its officers by issuing a controversial notification and directed all the officers to report to the Lieutenant Governor (an appointee of the Central government).
This has caused friction between the Central and the NCT government over various issues and has also put forward the demand for “Full Statehood” for Delhi, this issue has been raised by many political parties from 1992 but is forgotten as the party comes to power in the center.
The lives of the common people will be greatly impacted upon if Delhi becomes a full-fledged State. Police would be directly under the elected government of Delhi and so it will make them more approachable and answerable as currently, the Delhi Police is directly under the Union Home Minister, who has to also take care of the militancy affected areas.
It would become easier for one to get a public dispensary or primary school or common services center built in a locality as then the land allocation, as well as construction, would be done by the same government.
As Delhi is not a full state, the three municipal corporations do not receive any aid from the central government and so as the burden is on the Delhi government solely, They face a severe cash crunch. Full statehood will solve this problem.
It is also expected that the state of Delhi will receive more central funds which will be in proportion to the income tax paid by its residents, this problem is being faced since the year 2000 which limited central funds for the UT’s leading to expenditure on infrastructure, Aesthetics and better basic facilities.
Also, the granting of Full Statehood will re-establish the control of the Delhi Government over its bureaucracy and the Anti Corruption Branch which will further help in curbing corruption.
It will also simplify the process of establishing new Universities in Delhi and reserving seats for the Delhiites as in other states so that even mediocre students can acquire quality education.
These were a few facts about how The State Of Delhi will bring about changes in our life.
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