Delhi govt forms 'dialogue commission' to deliver poll promises

The Delhi government on Friday announced setting up of a nine-member commission, to be headed by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, to implement the 70 promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its election manifesto.

After earlier crowd-sourcing its manifesto, the AAP government Friday set up a panel to implement its poll promises and roll out projects based on feedback from the public and experts.

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Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will be its chairman. “This is the reason he didn’t keep any department (portfolio) as he needs to focus on governance,” said his deputy Manish Sisodia. The decision to set up the paDialogue Commissionnel was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by the CM.

The Delhi Dialogue Commission will function as a ‘think tank’, its vice-chairman Ashish Khetan said, requesting suggestions from people on issues such as power, water, pollution, women’s safety and Yamuna revival, among others. Task forces will be set up to deal with each issue.

The public can write in or send emails to ddc.delhi@gov.in. A website will also be set up by Saturday.

“The commission will implement our vision for governance. We started the Delhi Dialogue before polls, interacting with people and drawing up our 70-point manifesto based on that. We promised we’d formalise this dialogue process if we came to power,” said Khetan.

The nine-member body, which will be involved in engaging with public and experts, will hold its first meeting on Monday. It will meet regularly to draw up action plans and send recommendations to the government. It is likely to function out of the Delhi secretariat.

All members will be paid an honorarium. “It will not only help remove the distance between the government and the people but also tap people’s everyday experiences and professional knowledge to draw up policy-level interventions to deliver on the manifesto,” said Sisodia.

“The only way to transform a city is to be in a constant dialogue with its people… This commission will come up with solutions to a range of civic issues by studying good practices, policies and plans from across India and the world and send concrete recommendations to the government,” said an AAP spokesperson.