DPCC revamping soon

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 2.

With the Congress general secretary in charge of Delhi, Mr. Kamal Nath, back in the Capital, a final decision on constitution of the Delhi Pradesh Congress(I) Committee and the appointments to Delhi Jal Board, which have been surrouded by controversy, is expected to be taken shortly.

It is understood that the issue of re-organisation of the various departments and rationalisation of portfolios of the Cabinet Ministers is also expected to come up for discussion during the talks between the two leaders. The matter will then be placed before the Coordination Committee set up by the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, which also has the former Union Minister, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, and senior leader, Mr. Jag Parvesh Chandra, as members.

Insiders in the party said a formal meeting is expected to be held between the Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, and Mr. Kamal Nath this week where a number of issue are likely to come up for discussion. The appointments to the Delhi Jal Board have been hanging fire for more than two months as Mr. Nath has found little time to deal with the issues. In fact, a general grouse of the MLAs is that he has not found time to meet them despite several requests during the past few months.

What has been causing a lot of heart-burn within the party and the Government is that Mr. Kamal Nath had been holding back on decisions which were administrative. In fact, he has been interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the Government. What has to be ensured is that there is perfect coordination between the party and the Government and that poll promises were being implemented. This interference and holding back administrative decisions for months have far-reaching implications and does not send a good signal and could backfire on the Government in the long run.

Interestingly, Mr. Nath had failed to take a decision on the names of the nine Chairpersons of the District Development Committees and the issue was kept on hold for three months. Ultimately, the names were cleared after a few minor changes. The DDCs are an important component of planning and financing developmental projects and the way the whole issue was handled reflected poorly on the leadership.

Insiders in the Government said many decision in the Delhi Jal Board could not be taken due to lack of required number of members at the meeting. Three new members are to be appointed to the DJB. The Chief Minister has recommended the names of MLAs, Mr. Vir Singh, Dr.S. C. Vats and Independent member, Mr. Mateen Ahmed. But a dispute seems to have arisen and the matter has been pending for two months. Similarly, through an amendment in the Delhi Jal Board rules, a member has been debarred from holding for two consecutive terms, ruling out the candidature of former member and Bawana MLA, Mr. Surinder Kumar.

On the other hand, Mr.Kamal Nath is expected to take up the issue of constituting a new team of office-bearers for the DPCC(I). The prospects of an early announcement of the new team have brightened following the clearing of new set-ups of various States. A final decision is expected after the return of Ms. Gandhi from the US this week.

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