The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bhagidari runs into rough weather with MLAs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Bhagidari runs into rough weather with MLAs

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, JAN. 1. Ever since its inception almost five years ago, the Bhagidari scheme of government-citizen partnership has made great strides and opened up new avenues for development and sorting out of problems at the local level. However, the recent proposal to start direct funding of the Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) through the area Deputy Commissioners has evoked a strong reaction from the Delhi legislators who are planning to protest any such move by the Government.

It is learnt that the Delhi Government has prepared a proposal under which the RWAs would be provided funding to the tune of Rs. 50 lakhs per year through the Deputy Commissioners and they would be empowered to identify projects at the local level and earmark funds for the same. This would be in addition to the Rs. 2 crore provided to the local MLAs under the MLA Constituency Development Fund scheme of the Delhi Government. Although the MLAs have till now not gone public on the issue and have had their reservations against the expansion of Bhagidari into new areas without assessing the gains made in the past five years at the ground level, the latest move is likely to face tough resistance from the legislators and may divide the party into two factions.

Interestingly, cutting across party lines, all the MLAs are of the view that this proposal for providing funds to the RWAs through the Deputy Commission should be resisted at any cost as this would not only undermine the role of the legislator but also throw up a parallel administration creating a new system and a new set of administrators. It is understood that the Congress MLAs are also planning to take up the matter with the AICC general secretary in-charge, Ashok Gehlot, and if that does not help then approach the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on the issue. It is felt that with such a system in place, it would only lead to confrontation at the local level and provide politically costly for the Congress party in the long run. ``If the RWAs want they could join hands with the local MLA and Councillor and execute works at the local level through the use of their funds. But setting in place a parallel system is certainly a bad idea,'' another Congress MLA stated.

However, there is another opinion within the party that the matter should first be discussed with the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and she should be explained the complications involved in the whole process and what dangerous shape this could take in the future. The MLAs are also of the view that empowering the RWAs with such wide-ranging powers would prove costly at the time of the next elections as some of them might indulge in bargaining at that time. The Government has already got a taste of the stakes involved during the December 2003 polls when some office-bearers of the RWA federations went against the Delhi Government. ``The provision for Rs. 50 lakh is not a feasible proposal and should be taken back immediately. When the present system is working fine, then what is the reason that it cannot be continued in the same way. The bureaucracy is certainly trying to clip the wings of the legislature and the Chief Minister should not fall for the bait,'' a senior party MLA remarked.

It is believed that a discussion on the issue is likely to be taken up in the party forum very soon.

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