MCD’s scorecard:

Since January 1, 2023, there have been 30 meetings of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) house of councillors.
At least ₹1 crore has been spent on logistics of running the house in the past 20 months.
Damage to state-of-the-art mics, table tops, and chairs has cost the exchequer around ₹34 lakh.
At least 3.1 tonne of paper has been wasted.
And close to ₹10 lakh has been spent on food and snacks.
The outcome? Not one of these meetings – the shortest lasting as little as just 30 seconds, and the longest an entire night – has seen discussions on civic matters or any functional proceeding.
Instead, 51,000man-hours have been wasted by hundreds of instances of sloganeering, mayhem, even brawls .
This is the balance sheet of proceedings in MCD’s house of councillors.
At least once every month, 250 councillors, and an array of top bureaucrats, are required to gather at the Civic Centre municipal headquarters. The meetings have happened, but hardly any matter related to civic issues has been flagged, not a single policy matter has been fruitfully discussed, and even basic formalities and courtesies such as condolence resolutions have become points of contention.
Delhi’s primary civic body, as a result, has not only lost monetarily but also faces a larger loss reputation. Meanwhile, the Capital’s residents find that there is no one who can be held accountable.
A senior MCD official said that the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 mandates that at least one such meeting be held every month to deliberate on matters of public interest, civic issues and policy matters.
“Ever since the inaugural house of councillors meeting on January 6, 2023, was hit by pandemonium and violence disrupting the oath-taking ceremony – a first in municipal history – scuffles, sloganeering, rowdy behaviour and ruckus have been repeated over and over again over the last 20 months,” the official added, asking not to be named.
Councillors have been able to raise issues only during one meeting boycotted by the opposition.
What it costs to hold meetings
A second official, also asking not to be identified, said that at least one week of preparations, policy matter revisions and operation of a municipal secretariat of more than 100 workers are required to hold each meeting. Even though some of the house meets have lasted for overnight, a house meeting usually goes on between 2pm-5pm with more than 300 participants. Each washed-out session means that at least 1700 manhours are lost.
The logistical and operational costs for each house sitting is around ₹3 -3.2 lakh, according to multiple civic officials associated with organising these meetings. Officials estimate that more than ₹1 crore has been spent on holding house meetings since January 2023.
Another common feature in the meetings is policy proposals being torn and tossed in the air.
Agenda items are printed ahead of each meeting and then circulated 48 hours before a session by 24 riders to all concerned councillors and bureaucrats. But in the end, all this goes to waste, the second official said. Even a conservative estimate of 300gm-350gm of policy papers handed among more than 300 participants – councillors, aldermen, officers and press – translates to over 3.1 tonnes of wasted paper.
Furthermore, each participant and observer (375 packs ordered for each meeting) gets a pack of refreshments and snacks typically costing ₹90 per box and sourced from Hira Sweets – translating to ₹10.1 lakh.
But by far the most embarrassing aspect has been the chaos that grips the house every time it meets. There have been several instances where police had to be called because councillors were physically fighting with each other. The councillors used water bottles, papers, chairs and furniture as weapons, even ripping out microphones to use as projectiles .
Documents seen by HT show that property worth more ₹34 lakh has been damaged since 2023.
Absence of accountability
But there is a larger cost of lack of accountability – issues concerning Delhi’s 250 wards have been completely ignored, and all resolutions, if any, are done without any consultation or discussion. Officers are no longer made to answer the elected wing. Incident reports have been discontinued and no action taken reports are circulated.
Anil Gupta, former chief law officer of MCD, said that sections 73 to 86 of the DMC Act enlist the process of holding house meetings, making regulations, voting, questions being raised by councillors and accountability.
“The provision of the monthly meeting was added so that checks and balances can be established. Councillors can submit written questions, seek answers and action taken reports. Short-notice discussions can be held on any topic of public importance. But all of this has been reduced to a drama,” Gupta said.
Atul Goyal, resident of URJA, an umbrella body of RWAs in Delhi, said that the happenings of MCD are visible to everyone, and there should be some basic accountability.
“Someone must observe the proceedings of the house and correction mechanisms should be put in place. If the house fails again and again to execute basic business activities which are intended to be debated, analysed and sanctioned, then what is the purpose of the meetings? The city is not being meaningfully run,” he added.
But each of the two main parties in the house – the Aam Aadmi Party in power, and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – blames the other .
Mayor Shelly Oberoi, on multiple occasions, has blamed BJP members for holding the house to ransom. “Since our government was formed, BJP has created hurdles in mayor election, and deputy mayor election, even then their presiding officer had the intention to conduct the election process in an unconstitutional manner, for which we had to go to the court. Not a single meeting of house of councillors has been allowed to proceed peacefully. BJP does not want to discuss the issues related to public welfare,” she said after the last meeting on August 21.
Leader of the opposition Raja Iqbal Singh alleged that AAP was responsible for not letting MCD operate. “AAP mayor does not come to the house meeting with an intention to listen to everyone. In the last house meeting, AAP councillors came with placards against the commissioner. What does this indicate? There was no stay from the court on the formation of MCD committees but still, AAP delayed it for 20 months. They are responsible for this mess,” he said.
Iqbal said that the onus to run the house is on the ruling party and the opposition benches are performing their role.
And while this blame game continues, Delhi’s residents continue to foot the bill for chaos.