Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia on Friday cleared several government proposals, including the ‘contentious’ plan for doorstep delivery of ration.
The CM also directed the Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary to submit by July 10 a final proposal regarding installation of CCTVs across the city.
The spree of approvals and orders come two days after a Supreme Court verdict clipped the powers of the Lieutenant-Governor.
Mr. Kejriwal said he had “overruled all objections” and approved the ration delivery proposal.
“Approved Doorstep Delivery of Rations. Overruled all objections to the proposal. Directed Food Dept to start its implementation immediately [sic.],” Mr. Kejriwal announced on Twitter. “Directed dept to keep me informed of daily progress [sic.],” he added in a subsequent tweet.
Delay in nod to the proposal was one of the reasons for the nine-day dharna by Mr. Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues at Raj Niwas last month. Mr. Baijal had objected to the scheme and had asked the AAP government to consult the Centre before executing it.
File will now go to Centre
After clearing the proposal, the CM held a press conference where he claimed that the L-G had “indirectly” said that the file for the proposal should now be sent to the Centre and his concurrence was not required.
The Raj Niwas, however, issued a statement saying that the L-G had not made any comments on the proposed scheme.
“It is reiterated that the file on this subject was returned in March 2018 suggesting seeking approval of the Centre as opined by the Law Department of Delhi government. It has not been re-submitted and has been pending with the elected government,” said a statement from the L-G office.
Signature Bridge and DTU
Mr. Sisodia, meanwhile, cleared two projects at a meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC): final instalment for the Signature Bridge and the construction of academic and hostel blocks at Delhi Technical University (DTU).
Mr. Sisodia tweeted,“Two major projects cleared - 1. Final installment for Signature Bridge. Now it would be completed by Oct’18 2. Two new academic blocks and 3 new hostels in Delhi Technical Univ(DTU). This would add approx 3000 more students to DTU [sic].”
The EFC approved the PWD proposal for the completion of construction work of Signature Bridge at Wazirabad at a revised total estimated cost of ₹1,518 crore, said a government official.
The PWD has already released ₹1,380 crore to the DTTDC for the project so far, he said.
The EFC also approved the proposal by the Directorate of Training and Technical Education for starting the first stage of Phase II development at DTU at an estimated cost of ₹292 crore, the officer said. Under the project two academic blocks and three hostel blocks will be built. The timeline for the project, which states that construction will be done within 19 months, was also approved by the panel.
