Centre sets up committee to review role of Delhi Development Authority

The ministry of urban development has proposed to reassess the role of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the context of diverse and emerging development needs of Delhi. Minister of urban development M Venkaiah Naidu also on Monday announced the setting up of 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 a 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. Other members include S K Tandon (former commissioner of land acquisition, DDA) Sharda Prasad (former commissioner of land acquisition, DDA), K P Laxman Rao (former member (finance), DDA) and A K Jain (former commissioner of planning, DDA).

The additional and joint secretary in the ministry of urban development, chief planner of the Town and Country Planning Organisation, secretary of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission, the chairman of NDMC, municipal commissioners of three municipal corporations of Delhi will be ex-officio members of the committee. Secretary of DDA will 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.

The objective of the Delhi Development Authority, as stipulated in section 6 of the Delhi Development 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.''