Setting the stage for another tussle, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Thursday told Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal that it had ordered a senior officer not to act on the L-G’s order to set up a committee for the implementation of the CCTV project.
‘L-G has no role’
In a letter to Mr. Baijal, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satyendar Jain said he had learned through media reports about the L-G’s instruction to the Home Department to form a committee to suggest the standard operating procedure (SOP) for CCTV cameras’ installation.
He added that the installation of CCTV cameras by the PWD was a transferred subject and that the L-G had “no role” in it.
“The committee set up by you is illegal, unconstitutional and has been set up with the sole objective of obstructing CCTV project...LG has no jurisdiction to set up such committee. The committee is therefore void ab-initio. Therefore, I am directing the Home Secretary not to proceed with the same [sic],” he wrote.
Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the government had completed the preparation for the CCTV project, which was “in the final stage”.
‘Intended to stall work’
After floating a tender and allotting the work to Bharat Electronics Limited, the government only had to issue the work order, but the L-G had “suddenly” decided to form a committee, Mr. Sisodia said.
“He could have called the Minister and asked about the project if he had concerns. But, the committee has been formed with the intention of stopping the work,” he said.
The Deputy CM added that the government wanted to involve residents’ welfare associations and market associations in addition to local police in the process of identifying the locations for CCTV cameras.
“The RWAs and market associations know which are the sensitive spots that need cameras. How will the committee know,” he asked.
The PWD had floated the tender for 1.4 lakh cameras earlier this year. The work was supposed to have started by March.
