Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Monday approved the Arvind Kejriwal government’s plan to make dozens of public services available at citizens’ doorsteps, PTI reported.
In November 2017, the Delhi government announced that 40 public services such as driving licences, caste certificates and water connections would soon be home-delivered, with officials going to people’s homes to complete paperwork and collect payment. After the government sent the proposal to Baijal for his approval in December, the lieutenant governor asked it to reconsider the proposal and suggested an alternative model.
Baijal’s office said the plan left room for safety concerns for women, corruption, bad behaviour and breach of privacy. Soon after, the Kejriwal government responded to the rejection, calling it a “huge setback” to its “efforts to provide good and corruption-free governance”.
On Monday, a statement from Baijal’s office said the government’s plan was approved after Kejriwal promised to “simultaneously work to plug the gaps in the digital delivery of services from the ‘application’ to the ‘delivery’ stage”, The Indian Express reported. The statement said the Delhi chief minister had agreed to Baijal’s suggestion to set up internet kiosks and employ youth.
Kejriwal thanked the lieutenant governor for approving the plan. “All citizens of Delhi are grateful to u sir. Thank u (sic),” the chief minister said on Twitter.
The Aam Aadmi Party government has been involved in a long-running power tussle with the lieutenant governor’s office – an ongoing case in the Supreme Court. The government claims the lieutenant governor has no role in the affairs of the national Capital, and only the chief minister and his council of ministers can make decisions.
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