MCD likely to hold polls to recognise staff unions, proposal to be tabled on Feb 26

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is likely to present a proposal in the House to recognise employee unions and associations in all of its 12 zones by holding elections through secret ballot for representing staff concerns, civic body sources said.

The civic body is expected to table the proposal in the House meeting on February 26. A secret ballot election committee will be constituted for holding the polls, they said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) recently notified that it does not recognise several unions and associations after their members staged protests for the regularisation of contractual workers and alleged non-payment of salaries.

It barred its employees from participating in protests staged by such unions or criticising a department on social media or in front of the press and warned of disciplinary action.

However, the MCD has now passed a resolution that outlines the code of discipline and criteria for recognition of unions and associations that will be eligible to contest the polls, sources said.

The labour welfare department of the MCD will work on the proposed guidelines to identify major stakeholder unions and associations that come under the jurisdiction of the civic body. The department will also prepare a centralised voter list of all eligible employees who can participate in the election process.

This list will be uploaded on the official website of the civic body.

As per the guidelines, only regular group C and D employees and regular daily wagers will be able to cast votes for electing the unions. The contesting unions can choose from a list of 16 free election symbols to represent their union.

The polls will be held periodically in all 12 zones of the MCD and the union which gets the maximum number of votes will be given recognition by the corporation for a tenure of five years until it is re-elected for representing the concerns of the staff in their respective zones.

In each zone, the corporation will set up polling booths which will be guarded by a team of polling assistants and police personnel to avoid canvassing or influencing votes within 100 metres of the polling station.

Once the proposal is passed in the House and the secret ballot election committee is constituted, the decision to hold the elections along with its schedule will be notified on the MCD’s official website.