The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi Govt., MCD set for a clash

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Friday, Jun 03, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Delhi Govt., MCD set for a clash

Sujay Mehdudia

Bhagidari scheme becomes the latest flashpoint

NEW DELHI: The bitter long drawn out wrangling between the Congress-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi Government is not over yet. The latest round of confrontation has been touched off by the MCD leadership's decision to curtail the number of officials deputed for the Bhagidari scheme meetings on the ground that it was affecting the working of the civic body.

The Standing Committee of the Corporation on Tuesday passed a resolution directing the Municipal Commissioner to nominate a nodal officer from the civic body for attending the Bhagidari meetings and withdraw the large contingent of officials assigned for the Bhagidari sessions. This is likely to increase the friction between the Delhi Government and the MCD. The Bhagidari scheme is close to the heart of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her close bureaucrats and any attempts to downsize its reach is likely to draw the ire of the Government.

Interestingly, the Congress Councillors have from the very beginning opposed the Bhagidari scheme, describing it as an attempt to clip the wings of the elected representatives. Officials in the MCD have also voiced their protest and concern over their participation in the Bhagidari meetings on the ground that they would not work under junior officers of the Delhi Government. In fact, there have been complaints that a majority of the officers from the various departments of the civic body were always on duty attending meetings and session of Bhagidari scheme and they were rarely found in their offices. The elected representatives had complained that in the absence of officials, coordination between the various departments had suffered badly and was affecting developmental works.

"There is no need for a large contingent of officials to attend such meetings. This affects the working of the MCD and execution of various developmental works. In turn, it provides an excuse to the Delhi Government to charge that the Corporation with not working effectively. This is the reason this activity had been curtailed," a senior official remarked.

The MCD would now be deputing a nodal officer for such meetings and he would give the necessary feedback to the Delhi Government on various issues. The civic body is also faced with another problem with its deputy commissioners conveying to the Municipal Commissioner, Rakesh Mehta, that they would not attend meetings of the Bhagidari as the deputy commissioners of the Delhi Government who far junior to them. "This could take political overtones as this action is likely to be labelled as another attempt by the Ram Babu Sharma faction to embarrass the Chief Minister. The Bhagidari working would also stand badly affected as MCD constitutes a very important part of the implementation process," a senior party leader added.

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