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Multiple authorities hindering governance in Delhi: Sheila

Staff Reporter

`Unless people voice their demands, the system will not respond'

NEW DELHI: "Multiplicity of authority in Delhi has led to slowing down of work as well as loss of accountability. There is an urgent need to eliminate all the red tape that our bureaucratic system has come to symbolise," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the inauguration of a two-day international seminar here on "New Forms of Urban Governance in Indian Mega Cities" at the School of Social Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Ms. Dikshit highlighted the need for "people's vigilance" and "enlightened citizenship": "The economic principle relating to demand and supply can be used to exemplify what is required to bring about a change. The citizens need to demand their rights and the Government has to address them. I believe that unless people voice their demands, the system of governance will not respond to its responsibilities."

The seminar marked the culmination of the fifth phase of the Indo-Dutch Programme on Alternatives in Development (IDPAD) that seeks to promote social science research that is of relevance to development in India and strives to increase interaction between researchers and users of research, including policy makers from government and non-government organisations.

The Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, and the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research, The Hague, have jointly implemented IDPAD.

Formally launched in 1980, four phases of research conducted by IDPAD have been implemented. Research on the fifth phase, "The Quality of Life in a Globalising World", was initiated in 2003.

"This seminar, which marks the beginning of the end of IDPAD's fifth and final phase, will throw up some aspects of changing trends in urban governance, especially in Indian mega cities. We hope that we can arrive at some progressive suggestions that can be implemented by policy makers of our country," said Professor Amitabh Kundu of the Centre for the Study of Regional Development at JNU's School of Social Sciences.

"The major research that was conducted in the fifth phase concentrated on three mega cities -- Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. We also incorporated inputs from various researchers and scholars from 63 cities across the nation including Kolkata, Bangalore and Kochi," Prof. Kundu added.

Planning Commission Member Bhalachandra Mungekar said: "In India when a policy is implemented, it affects the governance and those governed differently. In such a scenario, a change in the system of governance is essential. Only then can there be all-round progress."

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