Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be starting his own version of the PM’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ titled ‘Talk to AK’ from July 17.
The CM will interact with the people through social media and will be taking questions, unlike the one-way communication of the PM’s radio programme.
The new initiative comes as another reach-out programme by the AAP has begun to lose popularity.
The Janta Darbar, a public meeting that is held thrice a week at the CM’s residence, is losing steam.
On January 11, 2014, when the first Janta Darbar (public meeting) was held at the Delhi Secretariat, the CM and the Cabinet Minsters were swamped by complaints as thousands turned up at the event. In fact, Mr. Kejriwal had to stop the session mid-way and had to leave as the crowd became unmanageable. Around 2,600 complaints were registered that day.
Absent crowd
Two years later, the AAP government’s flagship initiative to keep directly in touch with the public seems to have lost its sheen. On Wednesday, when The Hindu visited the CM’s residence at Flagstaff road, Civil Lines — which has now become the venue for people to meet their leaders and senior government officers to personally discuss their grievance — the attendance was very thin.
In almost an hour that this reporter spent at the meet, only six people showed up with their grievances. The staff posted at the gate and those who give the token slips claimed that the meetings were still very popular, and that the poor attendance (on Wednesday) was due to confusion over Eid.
“Some think there is no Janta Darbar thinking it is Eid,” said Manoj Dubey, an AAP member who manages the crowd at the meet. However, last week as well there were few people in attendance.
The CM’s media advisor Arunoday Prakash said that since Mr. Kejriwal was in Goa not many had turned up for the session.
Many reasons
The staff of the Janta Darbar said there were many reasons for the dwindling crowd. Firstly, a substantial number of people would come with complaints regarding water and electricity.
“But with our government working so well in these two sectors, there are a few complaints,” said a staff member.
Secondly, many people come only to meet the CM and when he isn’t in Delhi, the attendance is thin.
“Since all MLAs have to spend three hours in their respective constituency office, rather than coming to Civil Lines people register their complaint with the MLA,” a member said.
Another reason given is that the government has gone online as people can also register their complaints on the public grievances management cell website.
Lastly, the staff said that the long queues and police barricades are history as a hall has been built inside the CM’s residence, which can hold around 200 people.
However, Krishan Kumar, a resident of Bawana, who had come with his complaint regarding power outages, said that he had been to the Janta Darbar thrice, but there is no ‘sunwaai’ (redressal).
“There has been almost no power for a month in our village in Bawana. I have met the area MLA, officials and even the CM’s staff, but the problem persists. This (Janta Darbar) is just street theatrics,” said the 53-year-old farmer.
