MCD clears three-year validity for school health and building safety clearances, ETEducation
New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Friday approved a proposal to issue school health and building safety certificates with a validity of three years, bringing them in line with Delhi govt’s system and easing the compliance burden on schools.
The proposal, moved as a private motion by councillors Satyapal Singh and Pankaj Luthra, aims to end the requirement for annual renewals, which schools said led to repeated visits to civic offices.
Private schools under Delhi govt and MCD have to obtain health and building safety certificates before any renovation or expansion, along with a fire safety certificate from Delhi Fire Services. While fire safety certificates are valid for three years, MCD-issued health and building safety certificates require yearly renewal. The motion noted that this discrepancy causes inconvenience and opens the door to harassment and corruption. “There is an urgent need to bring reforms with immediate effect,” the proposal stated.
The house also cleared a proposal to hire an agency for outsourcing manpower for the horticulture department through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal for two years.
MCD currently maintains around 15,000 parks and green spaces spread over 5,172 acres. Of this, 292.6 acres are maintained by resident welfare associations under a public-private partnership model, 414.5 acres fall under the Delhi Parks and Gardens Scheme and 149.2 acres are maintained through memoranda of understanding.
Officials said the department requires 3,507 gardeners to maintain the remaining parks, but only 2,070 are currently in place.
“Maintenance of parks cannot be achieved without adequate manpower, as the department is heavily dependent on outsourced staff. Since recruitment of malis, either on a regular or contractual basis, is presently not possible, the shortage of manpower is severely affecting work,” officials said.
To streamline the process, the department has now proposed hiring the remaining required manpower across 12 zones for two years.
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