Every other day we all read these type of news in Times of India and a few of those headlines I am quoting below:-
- Don’t wait for LG nod, act on copy of files – directive from Delhi Home Minister
- Speaker to officers : Ignore LG’s order
- Corporation fights over who owns Civic Centers.
- After frequent cases of rape Delhi gets a tag of India’s “stalking Capital”.
- Garbage piled up on the streets. – open invite to diseases.
- Water –Water everywhere after one hour of rain Drainage system clogged up.
- Lack of co-ordination between DDA & Delhi Govt. in acquisition proceedings, release of compensation, receipt of land, etc:
- Delhi is the most Polluted City.
- On appointment of member secretary of Delhi Commission for Women – Our CM called honorable Lt. Governor as Hitler.
- Locals, residents complain that drains are not properly cleaned resulting in stagnation of water at various places.
- High Court: Auto Permit Scheme was rigged.
- Delhi High Court had ruled that LG is the Administrative head of the capital, which means that all appointments must have his approval.
- Most major roads with PWD are up for maintenance but only potholes have been repaired. On the other hand Corporations blame Delhi Govt. for not giving them enough funds for major relaying work on the roads.
- Blame Game : The Civic Bodies in Delhi claim there is lack of communication between the Municipal Corporations & the Govt. The Govt. is trying to hide its failures by blaming the Corporations.
- Full of filth, east Delhi faces health risks. Mounds of waste eat into road space, kids and senior citizens falling sick.
This is Delhi, The Capital of India – the largest Democracy of the World. Capital, as we all know is the face of the Country. Delhi is a very unique city having very modern buildings as well as historic buildings & monuments, which has great attraction for tourists. As a matter of fact 30% (thirty percent) of the tourists those who come to India visit Delhi – this percentage is the highest in comparison to all the other cities. Further all the Embassies are located here and all the Dignitaries from the world visit this City as invitees of the Govt. of India from time to time. What impression they get about the City when they read all those reports in the papers & also see all that dirt, jhuggies / slums etc all around different areas. Leave aside the Foreign Dignitaries & visitors; what about the citizens of this City? Don’t they have the right to live in a healthy & clean atmosphere (literally and metaphorically)? Don’t they have the right to have proper drainage system so that people don’t have to swim in the water lakes formed at various places after 2 hours of rain? Don’t they have the right to safe travel on roads which are without big pot-holes? Are we not ashamed of all this mess?
The situation has become worse during the last 2 years under Kejriwal’s government. Every second day there are reports of differences between Kejriwal & Lt. Governor. Every now & then the different matters of conflict between L.G and Kejriwal are referred to High Court. Is it proper to waste the time of High Court for these matters? The High Court has much more important matters to attend. Kejriwal is not at all bothered about development of the infrastructure or improvement in the health services etc. but his ONE
POINT AGENDA is to make Delhi as a full fledged state. He has gone to the extent of making such a ridiculous remark (TOI report), where he said “We want statehood status for Delhi and we know how to get our way. These Goondas don’t respond if we play straight.” The Law & Order situation in Delhi is deteriorating day by day. Govt. departments hardly function. The AAP party MLAs are being arrested by Delhi Police under various heinous crimes. The reality is that the people of Delhi are completely fed up with the way things are happening in the City. This tug of war between the Govt. & Lt. Governor of Delhi has made citizens of this Capital City wonder whether such bickering amongst Political Parties is warranted in the capital City of great Country like India, which is aspiring to be among the first five Economic Powers of the World.
The solution lies in getting rid of Legislative Assembly of Delhi by not holding elections here, so that no Political Party can push forward its individual agenda to gain popularity in the eyes of public by policy of appeasement and also to avoid factitious and illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and other states, brought here only for supporting the Political Parties at the time of elections. The present AAP Govt. has worsened the situation by allowing all these people to built jhuggies at number of places, even in some of the posh colonies of Delhi. These jhuggi developers burn wood / charcoal etc to cook their meals and also to keep themselves warm in winter which in turn adds to pollution which is already at a dangerous level.
Will it matter that if 50 lakh people (voters) out of the total population of India of 125 crore, are not allowed to vote in the interest of the improvement of their City where they have spent most of their life span?
The present Govt. at the Centre headed by a very Powerful, dynamic, progressive & impartial leader Mr. Narendra MODI whose main agenda is development, improvement in the condition of the poor, investments in the infrastructure, creations of job, provision of electricity to all the villages, emphasis on ‘make in India’ etc – meaning all round development in order to make India one of the most advanced Countries in the World. Under his leadership it is very important that the status of Delhi is changed. Delhi should get a special status to be governed exclusively by the Govt. at the Centre and there should be no elections in Delhi. This special status can possibly be achieved by making amendments in the constitution after passing the Bill in the Parliament. This Govt. has taken very ‘Bold’ & remarkable steps in crushing black money, laundering of money, reducing cash transactions by one ‘Master stroke’ of Demonetisation. Therefore for this Govt. to amend the Constitution, in the interest to save DELHI from disaster like situation, is not a difficult task.
The advantages of the system shall be enormous & some of those are mentioned below:-
- The Govt. at the Centre shall have the full power to appoint the Lt. Governor with the approval of the President of India.
- The Govt. at centre should make a committee of 3 Cabinet ministers headed by P.M. to select the team of secretaries of Different Departments such as Secretary Home, Secretary Education, Secretary Health etc. to assist Lt. Governor of Delhi.
- These secretaries can be either from the political party at the Centre or IAS Cadre honest officers or head of the Departments of the different Govt. run institutions. It could be a combination of all the three. For instance secretary Health could be the senior most experienced Doctor from AIIMS, so that he doesn’t have to refer ‘Google’ for defining the disease or remedy for some kind of epidemic, as the present Health Minister of AAP govt. does.
- The appointment of the Chairman of the different Municipal Corporations should also be done by committee of secretaries under the Chairmanship of L.G. to select appropriate capable persons either form their political party or from academic circles or from Resident Welfare Associations.
- G should have meetings every month with all the secretaries and Head of different Department and Corporations to assess the development issues and review the progress. This process shall completely stop the ‘Blame Game’ which is being played by the present set up.
- This system will help much better Co-ordination between all the Departments & Organisations and over all condition of Delhi shall significantly improve.
The current situation in Delhi is one of chaos, turmoil and administrative incompetence, not only due to the intrinsic inadequacies of AAP but also due to the lac of trust, understanding and co-ordination with the centre, the LG and civic bodies.
This has built the grounds to work towards the implementation of the above suggestions to bring Delhi directly under the Centre’s rule to ensure a secure future for the Country’s capital and its loyal residents.
BY: SURENDRA NAYAR