Letter to Kejriwal from Lieutenant-Governor: Files are going slowly

In a correspondence sent to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena brought up the postponement of statutory body formation and appointment.

The L-G said in the letter dated February 19 that the problem affected the most fundamental legal safeguards that the government aims to provide to its people.

He said in the letter that four ideas had been received by the L-G Secretariat. One of these recommendations is to establish a State Level Monitoring Committee to supervise local authorities’ compliance and the efficient execution of the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, 2011 as announced under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

The second recommendation addressed to the L-G Secretariat is the declaration of District Magistrates as Responsible Sanitation Authority (RSA) under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act, 2013. It will also guarantee that contemporary technologies are utilized and no physical handling is done, prohibiting the individuals from engaging in or being employed for hazardous cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.

The third plan, the Constitution of the Governing Council of the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital (RGSSH), would serve as the Principal Executive Authority, vested with the authority to oversee the deliberations of every committee. The fourth suggestion was to create a search-and-selection committee to recommend and shortlist candidates for the position of chairperson of the board of governors of the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIITD).

In the letter, Saxena stated, “Clearly, these are important Committees/Bodies/Appointments that are entrusted with statutory responsibilities that address, among other things, environment, social justice, public health, and highly specialized technical education concerns that affect daily residents of Delhi, not to mention the most marginalized Scheduled Caste/Valmiki communities as indeed sick and ailing patients and deserving students.”

He emphasized how long the procedure was taking. According to the L-G, the Department of Urban Development pushed the suggestion about plastic garbage in May 2023, but the minister ignored it for eight months until forwarding the file on January 16 without any changes.

He voiced worries about other bodies in a similar manner. Regarding RSA, he said that while the file was first delivered to Manish Sisodia in June 2022, it had been languishing since September 2023 and had been sent on January 19.

The L-G made note of the fact that he received the proposal for the RGSSH Governing Council nomination last month, which was filed in December 2022. The IIITD idea, he said, had been stalled for the last five years.

Saxena said, “You would agree that such omissions and commissions are on the part of the government and its ministers,” before listing further concerns. I would suggest that you give all ministers an order to make sure that everything that is brought before them is resolved as soon as possible.