by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the powers of the Delhi government, with the issue now being referred to a larger bench.
While Justice A.K. Sikri said transfers and postings of Joint Secretaries and officers above will be in the domain of Lieutenant Governor; for those below them, the recommendation will be routed through the Council of Ministers of the elected government in Delhi.
However, Justice Ashok Bhushan differed saying that the Delhi government has no control over appointments. Transfer and appointment of “higher” officers will rest with the Centre, he added.
The Centre alone will control the Anti-Corruption Bureau and can only pass orders under the Commission of Inquiry Act.
The bench also said that the Delhi government will have the powers to appoint Special Public Prosecutor, and decide the minimum rate of the agricultural land in the national capital. The power to regulate electricity will also rest with the Delhi government.
Justice Sikri speaking for the bench on the issues except services said that there has to be mutual respect between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor as it was an essential part of good governance.
Saying that both — the LG and the Delhi government — must realise that they are there to serve the people. The court said that LG will not routinely differ with Delhi government.
He said that on the issues where differences are fundamental backed by cogent reasons, the LG would refer the matter to the President for a decision which would be binding.
The court also made it clear that the LG would not unduly delay referring the matter to the President where there is a fundamental difference of opinion with the Delhi government.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Nivedita Singh,
New Delhi : While the Delhi government is trying woo them with a draft agricultural policy, farmers of the national capital do not seem to be very happy with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on the issue of high electricity charges every month.
“The Arvind Kejriwal government is being praised across the country for low electricity charges in Delhi. They claim to give the cheapest electricity to the Delhi people but farmers are made to pay higher rates,” Naresh Kumar, a farmer from West Delhi’s Hiran Kudna village told IANS.
“The fixed charge on the electricity meters on our tubewells is very high. This is costing us a lot, despite the fact that we don’t use the tubewells throughout the year. Any farmer will use the tubewell only during the harvest seasons, which account for a maximum of two months. But we have to pay high charges to the electricity department throughout the year,” he said.
The fixed electricity charge for agriculture use in Delhi is Rs 125 per kilowatt per month as per the tariff schedule.
“So, if a farmer has a meter of 10 kilowatts to run a tubewell, he will have to pay a minimum of Rs 1,250 per month. The charge increase with the increase in the kilowatt. This is excluding the charges we have to pay for usage,” said another farmer.
“There are months when we have to have over Rs 4,000 for the electricity. This increases the overall cost of production and we are not getting any help from the government in this regard,” he added.
Echoing similar sentiments, 65-year-old Satbir Sharma said the profit margin of farmers has reduced because of this high charge.
“The Kejriwal government came to power with a promise to give cheaper electricity and free water to people. But the opposite happened with the farmers. We have to pay so much in terms of fixed charge even though we hardly use the tubewells. Per acre, we get a profit of Rs 10,000 and of that if Rs 5,000 or Rs 6,000 is given for electricity, what is our benefit,” Sharma said.
Some farmers also said that they have to give the fixed charge even when they purchase meters on their own, while some others said they have to pay this charge for the electricity they use in their homes as well.
Although no official data is available, at an estimate, there are about 20,000 families of farmers in the national capital. Agriculture in Delhi is being done on about 75,000 acres of land.
When contacted, Delhi Development Minister, Gopal Rai, said the government has acknowledged the issue raised by the farmers and is discussing the matter.
“We are having a discussion on the matter. We have got to know about the issue recently. Our government is working to make the life of a farmer easy. We will find a solution for this very soon,” Rai said.
While several farmers are demanding the reduction of the fixed charge, some others demand it free.
“The farmers in the national capital are very less in number. The government can give us electricity free of cost,” said 72-year-old Balbir Jatt.
Apart from electricity, the farmers are also demanding a Delhi Agriculture Commission.
“The Commission will help the farmers in the issues faced by them,” another farmer Man Singh Dagar said, adding that the commission should be headed by a local farmer so that he understand ground level issues.
In December last year, the Delhi government had formed an expert committee comprising a senior scientist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, farmers representatives and officers of the Agriculture Department for drafting the Agricultural Policy for Delhi.
The Committee has deliberated upon various issues pertaining to agriculture in Delhi, including the implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee Report on the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Apart from MSP, the government is also working and gathering inputs on the possibilities of organic farming and the problem of land shrinking. Impact of urbanization is also being worked out on in the policy, a senior official told IANS.
(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Manish Sisodia
New Delhi : The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of the Delhi government on Friday approved six projects worth Rs 1,572 crore for the national capital, including the extension of the flyover from Ashram to DND and redevelopment of Chandni Chowk from Lal Jain Mandir to Fatehpuri Mosque.
The EFC, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, also approved the construction of 12,000 additional classrooms in Delhi government schools and construction of Integrated campus of G.B. Pant Engineering College and Polytechnic at Okhla.
“The government will rebuild the G.B. Pant Engineering College and Polytechnic at Okhla completely. New hostels, academic blocks, labs, and canteen will be built. The hostel will be for 400 students. The rebuild will be done in two phases as the college is running. Its construction will take two years at a cost of Rs 526.66 crore,” Sisodia told the media.
To ease the traffic between Ashram to DND, the Ashram flyover will be extended and will be joined to the DND.
“The flyover will be constructed in 15 months at a cost of Rs 128 crore,” said Sisodia.
He said a six-lane bridge will be constructed at Chhawla Najafgarh road for better connectivity between various villages in Delhi and Haryana.
“It will be ready in 24 months at a cost of Rs 36 crore. “The EFC also gave its nod for construction and remodeling of Dada Dev Government Hospital in Dwarka with an aim to up the number of beds from 106 to 281. “This will cost Rs 53 crore,” he said.
Similarly, the EFC also approved the construction and remodeling of Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital at Narela at a cost of Rs 244 crore.
“The existing general hospital of 200 beds will be converted into a 773-bed comprehensive hospital with 513 beds for integrated Cancer hospital and a 260-bed hospital for Maternity and Trauma care,” he said.
“The Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital at Shastri Park will also be remodeled at a cost of Rs 189 crore to up the number of beds from 339 to 560.”
Speaking about the plan of the redevelopment of Chandni Chowk from Lal Jain Mandir to Fatehpuri Mosque, Sisodia said: “The government will work for the pedestrianisation and for creating facilities for non-motorised vehicles between the stretch.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to respond to a plea seeking directions to allow the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah.
The court was hearing a plea seeking directions for framing of guidelines to ensure the entry of women and declare the act of prohibiting women to enter as unconstitutional.
A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Kameswar Rao asked the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law and Justice, the Delhi government, Delhi Police and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Trust to file the response and listed the matter for further hearing to April 11, 2019.
The plea was filed by Deeba Faryal and other female law students of the Balaji Law College, Pune, who are presently in Delhi for their internship.
The petitioners, in the plea, stated that they had gone to visit the Dargah but they were prohibited from entering the sanctum sanctorum.
“They (law students) found out that women are not allowed inside the main Darghah or the sanctum sanctorum. All the women were allowed to do was to watch from outside how men were praying inside,” said the plea filed by advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra.
“While the entire nation is professing and advocating the entry of women in all religious institutions without any discrimination and the same having been further allowed and promoted by the Supreme Court in the recent Sabarimala judgement, women in the heart of the country and the centre of the capital are being discriminated. Their entry into the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin is prohibited when it is just 15 minutes away from the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court,” read the plea.
The plea has also sought the removal of signs and display boards inside or near the Dargah displaying prohibition of entry of women.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Markets, News, Politics
New Delhi : Delhi’s ruling AAP on Wednesday blamed the Modi government for the Delhi Metro fare hike and said it was meant to defame the city government.
Addressing the media here, Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Pankaj Gupta and Nitin Tyagi said it was a shame that Delhi Metro had now gone beyond the reach of the ‘Aam Aadmi’ (common people) due to its exorbitant fares.
“Price hike in Delhi Metro is a well-planned stunt of the BJP-led Central government to defame AAP, which has been consistently opposing the fare hike,” Tyagi said.
Gupta said the BJP did not bother about the price hike despite several protests. The fare hike, Tyagi said, had made Delhi Metro the world’s second most expensive metro network.
The Metro lost over 40 per cent of its ridership following two fare hikes in 2017.
—IANS
