The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the final gazette notification for redrawing of municipal wards in Delhi, paving the way for civic polls in the city.
The 800-page gazette notification by the MHA, dated October 17, stated that the number of municipal wards in Delhi will now be 250.
Before the reunification of the three erstwhile municipal corporations, there were 272 civic wards in Delhi.
The delimitation committee on Monday submitted to the Centre the final report on redrawing of the wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), official sources earlier said.
According to sources, the move will now pave the way for the civic poll as after the final delimitation order, the Centre is likely to direct the state election commission to initiate the poll process.
According to civic body officials, following the gazette notification, the delimitation exercise should be understood to be completed.
Sources earlier said the final report was submitted by the panel to the MHA on Monday evening after disposing off all objections and suggestions on the draft report on delimitation.
The committee had received over 1,700 suggestions and objections to the draft report on the delimitation of wards in Delhi.
'And, whereas, suggestions/objections so received have been examined and the Draft Delimitation Order for wards of Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been amended wherever required, feasible and justified on reasonable grounds.
'Now, therefore, the Central Government, after careful consideration of all aspects, hereby determines the extent of each of the 250 wards as comprised within the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and as per Annexure to this order,' reads the notification.
Municipal elections in Delhi are due since April this year.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was ruling the three municipal corporations -- North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation -- in Delhi for over a decade before their reunification in May this year, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the Congress have already started preparation for the polls.
The polls were earlier slated to be held in April, and are now anticipated to take place by the end of this year or early 2023.
The central government had fixed the total number of seats in the MCD at 250 from the existing figure of 272. This was stated in a Delhi Gazette notification, issued on September 10.
The total number of seats reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes in the MCD in proportion to their number is also determined to be 42, it had said.
The previous three corporations in Delhi comprised 272 wards. While the North and South corporations accounted for 104 wards each, the East corporation had 64 wards under its jurisdiction.
Parliament on April 5 passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2022 to unify three civic bodies in the national capital, capping the number of total wards to 250.
The MHA in July had set up a three-member panel for a fresh delimitation of the municipal wards in Delhi.
The panel had three members -- Vijay Dev, State Election Commissioner, Delhi, who was its chairman; Pankaj Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; and Randhir Sahay, Additional Commissioner, MCD.
The delimitation exercise in Delhi was last conducted in 2016 and the number of wards was kept at 272 with each having an average population of 60,000 considering a variation of 10 to 15 per cent.
The erstwhile MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit's tenure as the chief minister.
