BJP meets home min over issues facing Delhi civic bodies

A delegation of BJP leaders from the three municipal corporations of Delhi led by city BJP unit chief Satish Upadhyay today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sought redress of "administrative problems" being faced by them.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Upadhyay, who is also the Chairman of the Standing Committee of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said Singh had assured that he would soon call a high-level meeting to solve the problems arising between the municipal bodies and Delhi government.
According to a statement here, the delegation apprised the Union Home Minister about some of the efforts being made by the three municipal corporations to provide transparent and corruption-free municipal services as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Singh was informed about a cellphone app, 'Third Eye', which has been launched by SDMC to allow people to easily register their grievances.
Upadhyay told Singh that the trifurcation of MCD was done in "haste" in 2012 by the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as a result of which there remain shortcomings in the working of the municipal bodies despite the best efforts of the political wing.
The delegation demanded that the freeze on recruitment of safai karamcharis, beldars, gardeners, clerks, engineers, etc. in MCD, which was imposed by the former Dikshit government in 2004, be immediately removed as there is a massive shortfall of employees in the municipal bodies.

The recruitment freeze of 10 years has led to sanitation and maintenance work in Delhi being affected, the delegation said.

"All three municipal bodies want to start development work in nearly 1,000 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, but due to the roadblocks created by the previous Congress government in the last 15 years, they are unable to start work," a spokesperson claimed.
The erstwhile Congress government created a multiplicity of authorities in Delhi and took over many main roads and other services from MCD without creating the necessary infrastructure, he said.
The delegation also told Singh that although the three municipal bodies are trying their best to encourage construction of homes, interference by Delhi Police does not allow a corruption-free system.

They demanded that Delhi Police's role be restricted in matters of construction in the national capital.
Due to the shortage of clerical staff and engineers, upgrades in the online system of municipal services and formation of guidelines for regularisation of unauthorised colonies is also suffering, he added.