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 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday reminded people on the occasion of Independence Day that no religion teaches animosity.
As he and his deputy greeted the people on the occasion, Manish Sisodia told them to aspire for freedom from the shackles of caste, religion and narrow outlook.
Sharing a couplet from Urdu poet Muhammad Iqbal’s patriotic song “Sare Jahan Se Accha”, Kejriwal wished that there be all around development in the country and peace should prevail.
“Religion does not teach us animosity… We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan,” he tweeted.
Sisodia said only political freedom does not make a country free.
“Let’s remind ourselves on the occasion that a free country is not made up of only political freedom. Freedom from the struggles over caste and religion, and narrow outlook towards women ensures that a country is truly free,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The row over who controls Delhi’s bureaucracy escalated on Wednesday as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia launched a full attack against the Centre for not letting the city government implement some major schemes by pressurising the officers.
“Delhi government’s scheme of doorstep ration delivery and CCTV installation have been left in a limbo,” Sisodia said, adding, “even though we have decision-making powers, the officers who implement these projects are under the Central government, which is deliberately causing obstruction in our work”.
“In a way, BJP (central government) is saying that you have been given the powers to take decisions, keep taking those decisions, but we won’t implement it,” he said.
On July 6, the Delhi government approved doorstep ration delivery scheme but Sisodia said that the officer rejected it by saying that he will ask the Law Department first. “They are just rotating the files to cause hindrance in the elected government’s work.”
“The big question that arises is if the Delhi government is taking a step in stopping black marketing in ration delivery, then why is the Central government, through their officers, trying to stop it,” he asked.
He also mentioned the proposal where people working on a contractual basis would be given 20 per cent bonus and how the officers, despite ministers’ approval of the project, rejected the decision.
He also said that the government’s CCTV installation project has again hit a snag due to recommendations made by Lt Governor’s committee which mandates permission from police before installation.
“According to the recommendations by the LG’s committee, anyone who wants to install CCTV cameras would have to get police permission. This is a huge setback for women safety,” he said.
Kejriwal also said that the licensing process will only increase corruption.
“What will police see before giving CCTV license? On what basis will police give license? It will only increase bribery. It’s a huge blow to women safety because all existing cameras in Delhi will have to be removed till they obtain a license and all new CCTVs will have to wait for a license,” he tweeted.
Kejriwal, on Wednesday, also approached Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and told him how the Lt Governor and Centre are “twisting the orders of Supreme Court.”
“He said that he will discuss the matter with his officers and meet me again on July 16,” Kejriwal said after the meeting.
Last week, the Supreme Court held that the executive power of the Centre is limited to only land, public order, and police, while the elected government of Delhi enjoys powers on all other subjects, including “services”.
Lt. Governor Anil Baijal has, however, maintained that the Union Home Ministry has advised him to keep exercising powers over “services” because the 2015 MHA notification remains valid until the regular bench of the apex court decides on it.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Nivedita Singh,
New Delhi : The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to give another push to its demand for full statehood to Delhi with a public campaign, but experts said it was not a burning issue among residents and a way should be found to give more powers to the elected government to make its work easier.
The issue of statehood for Delhi has been raised for the decades but no party has given it so much thrust as the AAP. It was a key part of its manifesto, the party had released a draft bill in 2016 and passed a resolution in June this year.
Its leaders — Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia — have consistently said that statehood will usher in speedier development of Delhi besides making the entire administration responsible to the elected representatives in the way it is in other states.
Delhi, at present, is a Union Territory with special status. Unlike other states, matters concerning law and order and land fall in the purview of the central government. And with the Centre controlled by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, AAP has been having a running battle for greater control and freedom to act.
Former Lok Sabha and Delhi Assembly Secretary Sudarshan Kumar Sharma said that Delhi can become a full-fledged state only if the constitution is amended. He said capital of a country has its own administrative requirements.
“Nowhere in the world is the capital of a nation is under the rule of a state government. The capital belongs to all,” Sharma told IANS.
Delhi got a full-fledged assembly in 1991 after the passage of the Constitution (69th Amendment) Act. The Act also provides that the Lieutenant Governor, appointed by the President, will be the administrator of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Sharma, who has written several books on issues related to Delhi, said the common man “was never and will never be interested in full statehood issues”.
“There have been movements for so many things in the country but people in Delhi never demanded such a thing (statehood),” Sharma said.
He said the issue had been raked up in the past and “there must be a reason all the previous government could not succeed in making Delhi a state”.
Former Lok Sabha Secretary General, P.D.T. Achary, said that the statehood demand is genuine and legitimate, especially when “the rift between the Centre and state government is so high”.
“The present situation is unacceptable. The major question is what sort of administration Delhi wants. There should be special arrangements. Some thought has to go into this,” he said, adding that the interest of the central government should also be taken into consideration.
Subrata Mukherjee, a political analyst who taught at Delhi University, said that the statehood issue has been articulated by many parties but has not been fulfilled — and there is no apparent demand for it among the people.
He said there was confusion due to multiplicity of authorities in Delhi and statehood can further complicate the issue.
“I feel it is not required. Delhi enjoys special powers. People don’t really want Delhi to be a full state. They want services and till the time they are being served, they are happy,” he said.
He said AAP had done well in health, education and they should keep doing good work with the powers they have. “Statehood is not desirable.”
Narender Kumar, Professor, Centre for Political Studies at Jawahar Lal Nehru University, said most capital cities in the world have structures similar to that of Delhi’s.
“I feel statehood is not required and would not be appropriate but there should be more powers with the Delhi government,” he said.
He noted that the demand for statehood had not been met when the same party was in power in Delhi and at the Centre and “now it is all the more difficult”.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said her 15-year-tenure saw governments led by the BJP and Congress at the Centre.
“Things were not always as I wished them to be. I too faced issues, but instead of running to the public with all that (complaints), I tried to find solutions. We cannot stop all other work and sit with an issue. We worked and had a rapport with both the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and with the Manmohan Singh government,” Dikshit told IANS.
“The only way to make Delhi a full state is to change the constitution. If they are able to do that, then it is fine; otherwise, Delhi is and will remain a Union Territory, partly governed by the Centre,” she said.
Dikshit said Congress had also demanded statehood but was not successful.
“We tried our best but we all have to respect the constitution,” she added.
BJP leader Vijender Gupta, who is the Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly, contended that the AAP does not have any concrete plans about statehood and there should be a proper discussion on the issue.
“Just saying things will make no difference. Any new model that is proposed should not have flaws,” he said.
(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Ideas, Entrepreneurship, News, Politics, Startup Basics, Your Business Plan
New Delhi : An innovation centre will be set up in the city soon order to promote entrepreneurial potential in the youth, the Delhi government said on Wednesday.
An official statement said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had approved the setting up of the centre at the Delhi Emporium on Baba Kharag Singh Marg in central Delhi.
Sisodia said the emporium has sufficient space to accommodate the proposed centre and is ideally located to attract young entrepreneurs easily.
The emporium has a total carpet area of 7,476 square feet.
The idea of setting up an incubation centre was developed during the Innovation Summit at Hyderabad in November last year.
“Delhi being the national capital and centre of economic, social, educational, and technological activities is ideally placed for developing itself as a major centre of innovation and start-up culture,” said Sisodia.
The innovation incubator will work with entrepreneurs and raise the profile of its community of innovators and start-ups, thus creating jobs and help Delhi economy.
It will house at least 50 innovators and start-ups at any point of time.
It would be an independent registered non-profit organisation and become an intersection for the start-up community, government, corporate, academic and research sector.
It will have a hostel-cum-residency facility for the entrepreneurs and researchers.
—IANS
