NEW DELHI, March 2: The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has proposed to reassess the role of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the context of the diverse and emerging development needs of Delhi. In this regard, Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has set up a 14-member Committee to revisit and redraft the Delhi Development Act, 1957, under which DDA was set up.
The Committee will assess the adequacy of the provisions of the Delhi Development Act, 1957 and the role of DDA there under and suggest measures to be taken to enable DDA play the role of a facilitator and regulator. DDA is currently playing mostly the role of a ‘developer’. The Committee will hold discussions with all the stakeholders so as to suggest the best possible urban planning and development strategies to enable Delhi emerge as a world class city through enhanced investments. The Committee has been given three months time to submit draft Act and Rules for the consideration of the Government.
The Committee will be headed by Madhukar Gupta, IAS(Retd.) who was a former Vice-Chairman of DDA. The members include: S.K.Tandon, a former Commissioner of Land Acquisition, DDA; Sharda Prasad, also a former Commissioner of Land Acquisition, DDA; K.P.Laxman Rao, former Member(Finance), DDA; and A.K.Jain, former Commissioner of Planning, DDA.
Ex-Officio members of the Committee include: Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development; Chief Planner, Town and Country Planning Organisation; Secretary, Delhi Urban Arts Commission; Chairman, NDMC; Municipal Commissioners of the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi and Secretary, DDA who will also be the Member Secretary of the Committee.
Chairman of the Committee has been authorised to co-opt two other members as experts from outside the Government to assist the Committee.
Section 2.(d) of Delhi Development Act, 1957 defines ‘development’ as ‘carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land or the making of any material change in any building or land and included development’.
Section 3(2) of the said Act defined DDA as ‘The Authority with the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable and to contract.’
The objects of Delhi Development Authority as stipulated in Section 6 of the said Act ‘shall be to promote and secure the development of Delhi according to plan and for that purpose the Authority shall have the power to acquire, hold, manage and dispose of land and other property, to carry out building, engineering, mining and other operations, to execute works in connection with supply of water and electricity, disposal of sewage and other services and amenities and generally to do anything necessary or expedient for purposes of such development and for purposes incidental thereto.’
