The Rajasthan government has decided to merge the Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation and Jaipur Municipal Corporation Heritage ahead of the civic body elections in the state, government officials said on Friday.
The Department of Autonomous Governance issued an official order on Thursday, confirming that in the future, there will be only one unified Jaipur Municipal Corporation.
Indrajit Singh, Director of the Department of Autonomous Governance, said that Jaipur was originally divided into Heritage and Greater Municipal Corporations in 2019.
However, the merger will take effect only after the completion of the current term of both the corporations.
“Using the powers of Sections 3, 5, 6 and 10 of the Rajasthan Municipality Act, 2009, the state government has merged the Greater Municipal Corporation and Municipal Corporation Heritage,” Indrajit Singh, Director, Directorate of Local Bodies, added.
Jaipur Municipal Corporation was initially established in 1994, evolving from the Jaipur Municipal Council.
Over the years, the number of wards increased due to population growth, but the corporation’s boundaries remained unchanged.
In 1994, there were 70 wards created while in 2004, they were expanded to 77 wards, and in 2014, they were further increased to 91 wards.
With the merger, the existing 250 wards will be reorganised into 150 new wards.
A proposal has been prepared to define these new boundaries, and the people can submit their objections and suggestions until April 17.
Previously, in 2019, the previous Congress government expanded the number of wards from 91 to 250.
Now, the current BJP-led state government plans to combine three to four wards into one, increasing the population per ward from 9,000–13,000 to 20,000–30,000.
Additionally, 78 villages will now come under the Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction, officials said.
