Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday approved the Aam Aadmi Party government’s scheme to enable doorstep delivery of rations, and directed the food department to implement it immediately.
“Overruled all objections to the proposal,” he wrote on Twitter. “Directed dept [food department] to keep me informed of daily progress.”
This scheme has been one of the major points of contention between the Aam Aadmi Party government and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
In November 2017, the Delhi government announced that 40 public services such as driving licences, caste certificates and water connections would be home-delivered, and that officials would go to people’s homes to complete paperwork and collect payment.
Baijal asked the government to reconsider the scheme, citing concerns about women’s safety, corruption, bad behaviour by officials and breach of privacy. In January, he approved a new proposal from the Kejriwal government.
However, in March, Kejriwal said Baijal had rejected the scheme. During his nine-day sit-in protest at Baijal’s home in June, the chief minister had said that getting this scheme approved was among his main objectives.
Kejriwal’s move came just days after the Supreme Court said the lieutenant governor of Delhi is bound by the “aid and advice” of the council of ministers of the Delhi government in all matters under its jurisdiction.
The chief minister is expected to meet Baijal later on Friday to discuss the verdict and its implementation.
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