In tweet Kejriwal asks LG ‘to chill’; Saxena orders inquiry over ‘pending payments’

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's tweet came on the day lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommended another inquiry, this time against the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), for alleged payment delays of ₹16 crore to private operators involved in cleaning sewer lines in the city.

In a tongue-in-cheek tweet, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday compared his working association with state lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena to his relationship with his wife, and said she neither “scolds him” nor writes him “as many love letters” as the LG does -- a likely reference to the several probes that the latter has ordered against the elected government in the Capital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

His tweet came on the day Saxena recommended another inquiry, this time against the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), for alleged payment delays of ₹16 crore to private operators involved in cleaning sewer lines in the city.

“Even my wife does not scold me as much as LG sahib scolds me every day. In the last six months, my wife has not written me as many love letters as LG Sahib has written to me. LG sahib, chill a bit. And also tell your super boss, chill a little,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Officials in the LG’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the tweet.

Spokespersons of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and DJB did not respond to requests for comment on the LG’s allegations.

Saxena’s inquiry order is the latest in a series of probes he has recommended against the state government since he took over as Delhi’s LG in May this year. These include probes into the state’s new excise policy, the cost of classroom constructions, the construction of temporary Covid-19 hospitals, as well as into the purchase of Delhi Transport Corporation buses.

The state government and the AAP have denied all these claims, and said the probes stem from political vendetta because of Kejriwal’s rising popularity.

Meanwhile, an official in the LG’s office said the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) filed a representation on September 30 this year regarding the delay in payments.

“Expressing displeasure over this unjustified, inordinate delay in payments, the LG said this was a “serious matter” and asked the chief secretary to take immediate steps to clear all claims of these Dalit sanitation workers before Diwali so that they do not face any hardship during the festivals,” the official in the LG’s office said.

On February 28, 2019, DJB signed an agreement with DICCI to implement a technological solution to clean sewers and eliminate manual scavenging in Delhi. Under this, the DJB engaged 189 contractors to clean the sewer lines.

These contractors have engaged over 1,000 sanitation workers who are responsible for cleaning sewers in DJB areas.

“To implement the project, these contractors purchased sewer cleaning machines with the help of loans under the Stand-up India scheme. EMI payments form the major expenditure every month, apart from these machines’ recurring operation and maintenance expenses,” the official in the LG’s said.

“Due to non-payment of bills by Delhi government, the Dalit workers have been forced to go without salary for several months and the contractors are unable to meet the critical recurring expenses like the fuel, operation and maintenance and repayment of bank EMIs,” the officials said. According to the complaint, the contract between DJB and DICCI mandates the release of payment to the contractors every month, but timely payments have never been made in the last four years, they added.

A state government aware of the sewer-cleaning scheme said, “There has been some delay due to administrative reasons. Funds amounting to the tune of ₹7.9 crore pertaining to work carried out till July 31, 2022, have already been released. Bills for the work carried out in August have been submitted on September 30.”