Appoint govt-nominated members; confirm within 3 working days: Gahlot to DMRC

Days after the Centre indicated that it will not accept the nomination of AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Atishi to the DMRC board, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Friday wrote to the corporation suggesting it to appoint the four AAP government-nominated members to the mass transporter's board at the earliest.

In a note sent to Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Mangu Singh, the minister has asked to promptly confirm about the appointment within "three working days".

Gahlot has nominated four representatives, including AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Atishi, to the DMRC Board of Directors.

Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) vice chairman Jasmine Shah and AAP's Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta's son Naveen Gupta are the two other persons nominated by him.

"I would advise that the Board of DMRC passes the necessary resolution(s), appointing the said four nominee directors on the Board of DMRC. We would appreciate a prompt confirmation from your end in the aforesaid regard within three working days," reads the note sent to Singh.

In his note sent to the DMRC chief, the transport minister has also asked Singh to "immediately communicate" to the Delhi government the reasons the DMRC is unable to comply with the directions of the city government.

The DMRC said it would not comment on the issue.

Indicating that the Centre will not accept the nomination of Chadha and Atishi to the DMRC board, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on July 23 had said there was no scope for non-official people in the board.

Chadha and Atishi had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from South and East Delhi seats, respectively earlier this year.

Days after the nomination on July 17, the Centre had objected to the suggestion of Chadha and Atishi and two others to the DMRC Board of Directors, and asked the AAP government to withdraw its non-bureaucrat nominees citing official guidelines.

According to the guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises, officials handling the issue concerned should be appointed as government nominee directors.

In a letter to Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, dated July 17, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Additional Secretary K Sanjay Murthy said state officials concerned bring domain knowledge, expertise and accountability to drive the DMRC into a worldclass transport provider.