4 Bills passed to overhaul Delhi’s shelter, services, and fire safety

The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed four Bills to overhaul the city’s shelter rehabilitation framework, ensure time-bound delivery of government services, amend fire-safety regulations and repeal the existing bed-and-breakfast law, even as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers targeted the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government over the findings of two Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports tabled in the House

The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed four Bills to overhaul the city’s shelter rehabilitation framework, ensure time-bound delivery of government services, amend fire-safety regulations and repeal the existing bed-and-breakfast law, even as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers targeted the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government over the findings of two Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports tabled in the House.

CM Gupta said 19 CAG reports had been tabled in the House since the BJP government came to power. (@gupta_rekha/X)

It passed the The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (Amendment) Bill, which changes the cut-off date for identifying jhuggi jhopri (JJ) clusters from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025. It also aligns with the Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2026.

The government said it would provide legal clarity on identifying eligible clusters and facilitating their rehabilitation and relocation, while the revised cut-off would increase the number of clusters covered and have financial implications for DUSIB and the Delhi government in this regard.

The Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound and Ease of Delivery of Services) Bill seeks to make delivery of notified government services a statutory right. Citizens will be able to apply for services and track applications online through a unique application number.

The Assembly also cleared the Delhi Fire Services (Amendment) Bill, which, home minister Ashish Sood said, was part of a broader deregulation exercise and would ensure consistency between the Delhi Fire Service Act, 2007, and Delhi Fire Service Rules.

With the hospitality sector having evolved considerably, the government said, it requires a more flexible, policy-based regulatory framework. It passed the Bed and Breakfast Establishments (Repeal) Bill repeals the 2007 law and amendments made in 2010 and 2021.

House disruptions

Proceedings were disrupted after the Opposition ministers entered the well of the House and threw rice, alleging irregularities in the procurement of rice. Several leaders, including AAP’s Sanjeev Jha and Kuldeep Kumar, were marshalled out.

Speaking in the Assembly, food supplies minister Manjinder Sirsa said the government had not undertaken any procurement and that he had only approved a request from one of its agencies.

Discussion on CAG reports

The second half of the session was dominated by a political accusations over two CAG reports. Speaker Vijender Gupta said one report contained audit findings on various Delhi government departments for 2022-23, including revenue losses in stamp duty and registration fees, expenditure by DSSSB, the power subsidy policy, payments relating to GTB Hospital, DSIIDC, e-procurement, PWD works, construction of the new LNJP Hospital block, DTC, and the Delhi Jal Board. No opposition leaders were present when the reports were discussed.

The other report was the State Finances Audit Report. Both reports have been forwarded to the concerned departments for Action Taken Notes, while the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will examine the responses.

“Delhi’s BJP government is a government of scams, from medicine scam to bicycle scam and rice scam. The BJP government is only shying away from discussing these scams,” said AAP leader and Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused AAP leader of fabricating allegations to remain in the news and said they should be prepared to face legal action if the claims continue.

Speaking on the final day of the Monsoon Session, CM Gupta said 19 CAG reports had been tabled in the House since the BJP government came to power and were being examined by the PAC.

“These reports have not been prepared by any political party or government. They have been prepared by the CAG, the country’s highest constitutional audit institution,” she said.

Gupta said 1,734 utilisation certificates linked to schemes involving around ₹19,973 crore were pending, while 482 had been submitted. She also cited another set of pending UCs involving ₹2,650 crore, against which only 323 had been submitted.

She further alleged that 45 tenders worth ₹530 crore during the previous government’s tenure were linked to a single PAN card. “How could 45 tenders involving such a large amount be processed through a single PAN card?” she asked.

The CM said the government had introduced measures to improve transparency, including mandatory GeM procurement and shifting files to e-Office, while work was underway towards an e-cabinet system.

She said 150 GST officials who had remained posted at the same locations for years had been transferred through a random posting system. In the health department, 40 procurement cell officials were transferred and three suspended following alleged irregularities in medicine procurement, she said.

Gupta also flagged under-utilisation of budgetary allocations, saying Delhi’s ₹80,798-crore 2024-25 budget saw expenditure of only around ₹61,000 crore. She alleged that allocations for schemes including Ayushman Bharat centres, Schools of Specialised Excellence and Delhi Technical University remained unspent.

On the power sector, she said regulatory assets of discoms had risen to around ₹38,000 crore and asserted that the government would not allow the burden to be passed on to Delhi residents.

The chief minister accused the previous government of focusing on publicity rather than implementation, saying the CAG findings showed that several schemes were announced and advertised without delivering their intended benefits.

Using a metaphor, Gupta said the BJP government had “just sprayed pesticide” and was now seeing “pests and insects emerge”, referring to irregularities and shortcomings she said were being revealed through successive audit reports.

Urban development minister Ashish Sood attacked the AAP after the DUSIB Bill was passed, alleging that successive governments had failed to revise the cut-off date.

“We changed a 19-year-old administrative mindset today,” Sood said, accusing the previous government of making promises on in-situ rehabilitation without delivering redevelopment.