'Big firms keen on projects with MCD'

INTERVIEW/ Rakesh Mehta, MCD commissioner

Being one of the largest municipal bodies in the world, handling the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is not easy.

Rakesh Mehta, commissioner of the corporation, spoke to Business Standard about providing civic services to more than estimated population of 13.78 million in the capital. Within its jurisdiction are 12 zones, which are some of the most densely populated areas in the world.

How much does the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) hope to generate through the new property tax regime?

If the MCD can generate Rs 300 crore by way of increased compliance, it will be a huge success. Nearly 70 per cent of the revenues from property taxes is from commercial spaces.

Therefore, the residential areas are a stable source of revenue. There are multiple ways of collecting property tax, through the Internet, banks, and instant debit cards. All this will enhance tax compliance.

The Delhi government is planning to trifurcate the MCD. If that happens, the East Delhi segment will have a deficit of Rs 128 crore. How will you tackle this?

Trifurcation is the most suitable answer for an organisation as unwieldy as the MCD. Not only will it streamline operations, it will also improve accountability. Services at the ground level will radically improve.

The split will be like this: the East catering for 32 wards, the North 48, and the South 54. The East will get resources from the Trans Yamuna Board. Both the North and the South will make profits of more than Rs 200 crore in the next five years.

Do you think local bodies in general should be given fiscal autonomy, or should they be allowed to borrow from the government even if they don't financial parameters?

I strongly feel local bodies must meet financial parameters. They should have fiscal autonomy, they must discipline themselves, and they must either learn to swim, or sink.

If local bodies borrow from the markets, they are accountable to financial institutions and lenders. They will be constantly monitored as there are in-built mechanisms to ensure thorough auditing procedures.

There are no mid-course corrections in the process. The local bodies have to meet committed liabilities. The government should not bail out them out. The civic centre project of the MCD has been awarded an AA credit rating.

The corporation has performed well in its fund-based assessment. The MCD is not cash-strapped but it does not have regular cash flows. Infosys, Wipro healthcare, CDAC""all are negotiating with us for our projects. This shows a measure of their confidence in the MCD.

How does the MCD propose to help in the Delhi 2021 plan?

Our planning perspectives are warped. We may be good at macro layout, but working it out at the micro level becomes unviable. While designing, we must take into account dynamics at the micro level.

We are planning a Local Area Development Plan, a blueprint which conforms to guidelines of the Master Plan, taking into account little spaces in an urban set-up.

The district plan for Kingsway Camp in North Delhi revealed that property of over 2 million square kilometres in the "authorised" prime area was lying vacant, whereas all along the Ring Road, unauthorised constructions had sprung up.

This goes to show that the costs of our spaces for authorised constructions are so high that they become unviable for most, with the result that most of our residents take recourse to illegal means. Bad planning perpetuates this.

How do you plan to revamp the healthcare system in the six hospitals under the MCD?

We are getting into specialised outsourcing hospital information systems. It came through two months ago with Wipro healthcare. It works through the National Diseases Soluent System, which will have the morbidity pattern of the entire city, number of diseases, and cases registered under each.

The MCD has received the largest number of complaints from the Right to Information" cell. How will this organisation be accountable to citizens?

I do not know why officers at the field level are shying away from sharing information with settlements. I have made it clear that I will not tolerate any laxity on the part of the corporation. Greater transparency is always results in enhancing performance.

Your message to residents of Delhi?

Pay property taxes.