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`Bhagidars of Bhagidari' up in arms against Sheila Government

Sujay Mehdudia

The new buzzword is "empowerment of the common man"

NEW DELHI: With the "bhagidars" of the Bhagidari scheme becoming more and more demanding, the citizen-government partnership in governance is slowly turning into a government-bashing platform where the new buzzword is "empowerment of the common man".

Not only are the residents' welfare associations increasingly asserting themselves and seeking a more decisive role for themselves in the day-to-day affairs, they are also scrutinising the actions of the Government, past and present. The Delhi Government has come under pressure on the issue of privatisation of power sector in July 2002. Not only has it been criticised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) but also the Public Accounts Committee of Delhi Assembly headed by senior Congress leader and MLA, S.C. Vats. Now the Government has come under renewed pressure to come clean on the issue with the "bhagidars" demanding a CBI probe into the privatisation. Political observers are of the view that unrest on the twin issues is largely due to mishandling of the situation and failure to foresee the crises. What has further eroded the credibility of the Government is action by Delhi Jal Board officials in getting 14 people from Nehru Nagar in South Delhi imprisoned for demanding regular water supply. Initially the Jal Board denied it had anything to do with the incident but then went ahead and suspended two officials responsible for this episode.

"Unrest over water and power has worsened. RWAs and the people are hitting the streets and this is not something the party or the leadership could be proud of," a senior party leader remarked.

What has made things difficult for the ruling Congress is that much promised power reforms have failed to bring any respite for the Delhiites from prolonged power cuts, unscheduled load shedding, inflated bills and fast running meters.

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