Three years after it gave in-principle approval to the project, the Delhi Cabinet on Friday passed the proposal for installation of 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras at a cost of ₹571.40 crore.
Since the Assembly was in session, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made the “long-awaited” announcement in the House.
“All of Delhi is troubled by the way crimes and crimes against women are increasing. The BJP-ruled Central government and the Delhi Police, which it controls, have failed to maintain law and order. The Home Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Lieutenant-Governor [L-G] have been unsuccessful. The only thing in our hands was to install CCTV cameras,” he said.
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‘Hope L-G does not block’
The CM added that he hoped L-G Anil Baijal would not obstruct the project now, alleging that the Centre, through officers, had stalled the proposal for almost three years.
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that officers had tried to “obstruct” the proposal “till the last moment”, referring to a note by Chief Secretary (CS) Anshu Prakash presented in the Cabinet meeting.
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In the note, Mr. Prakash cited the Transaction of Business Rules, saying that a proposal to be discussed in the Cabinet should be sent by the CS to the L-G, the CM and the Ministers at least two days before the meeting.
Since he had received the Cabinet note at 10.10 a.m. on Friday for the meeting at 11.45 a.m., there had been no time for sending it to others, Mr. Prakash wrote.
He also said that he did not have the time to see if the observations of other stakeholders and the Expenditure Finance Committee had been addressed.
The Cabinet, however, passed a resolution rejecting his note, saying that it was shocking that he had found the decision hasty when it had been pending since 2015.
Later, the Assembly passed a resolution, moved by AAP MLA Alka Lamba, seeking Mr. Prakash’s removal from the post of CS, saying that he appeared to be “acting on behalf of the BJP government in the Centre” and “blocking” the proposal. The appointment of CS and the Delhi Police Commissioner were done by the Centre, said officers.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta said the AAP government had taken three years to pass the proposal in the Cabinet.