Kejriwal, Sisodia hold 'janta darbars'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other ministers today started holding 'janta darbars' (public meetings) at their respective residence to address people's grievances.
Last week, Kejriwal had asked his ministers and officers to meet the people for an hour everyday on weekdays from June 1 onwards to listen to their issues.
However, people were not allowed to enter the Delhi Secretariat which houses the offices of all ministries and major departments as the staff at the reception cited that they did not have any instruction either from the general administration department and the chief secretary's office about it.

A senior government official said that on the first day, around 550 complaints were received at the chief minister's 'janta darbar'. Most of them were related to water and roads.
At the deputy chief minister's meet, 200 complaints were received. All ministers also held their 'janta darbars' at their residence.
Asked about people being denied entry in the Secretariat, an official said that a proper system would be in place in the next few days.

Last month, Kejriwal had issued a note to Chief Secretary M M Kutty directing him to make a formal arrangement for the meetings that would address people's grievances.

"From 1 June, all Del govt officers, Ministers, CM n all AAP MLAs will meet people betn 10 to 11 am without appointment," Kejriwal had tweeted.
The move followed complaints to AAP ministers, including the chief minister, that officers were not accessible to the people.
The public meets are part of an outreach programme that seeks to bridge the gap between the people and the AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Delhi civic polls held in April.