Delhi’s Vidhan Sabha Committees are working to make government machinery accountable, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Thursday. The party asked why was the Lieutenant-Governor protecting Delhi government officials from being asked to perform their duties.
AAP’s Delhi spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Vidhan Sabha Committees have been performing one of the primary roles of the Legislative of the government-keeping the Executive accountable. “The committees have been successful in questioning the government and officials about unreasonable delays in execution work. The government is answerable to the Legislative Assembly about its spending on big projects,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.
Dept. irregularities
Citing a report published in an English daily, Mr. Bharadwaj said, “The newspaper report that quotes the L-G’s communication to the Home Secretariat claims that the committees functioning in Delhi are unconstitutional.”
He added, “The committees are being blamed for summoning and pressuring officials of the Delhi government. Our question to the L-G is that, are these officials being pressured by the MLAs for any personal favours? The officers are being confronted for their slow pace of work, apart from irregularities in their departments.”
Officials accountable
Mr. Bharadwaj also said that the MLAs have been elected by the people for getting work done and holding officers accountable, then why was the L-G calling the government out for doing its work.
Giving the example of a co-operative bank that had several fake memberships and was giving out crores of rupees of loans fraudulently, among other irregularities was caught after the House Committee’s intervention.
“Such committees function across the country and are an important part of India’s democracy. The L-G should explain why his office is against holding officials accountable,” he said.
