L-G approval pending, Sisodia seeks Mohalla Sabha road map by Monday

Though lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung is yet to approve Mohalla Sabhas, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has sought a detailed road map by October 24 to hold the local governance units in all assembly constituencies.

Though lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung is yet to approve Mohalla Sabhas, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has sought a detailed road map by October 24 to hold the local governance units in all assembly constituencies.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has sought a detailed road map by October 24 (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times)

In June, the Arvind Kejriwal cabinet notified 2,972 mohalla sabhas, besides creating a project management unit (PMU) called Mission Swaraj to co-ordinate the entire project.

Mohalla Sabhas, groups of citizens expected to approve local development projects, is a flagship project of the AAP government. It is aimed at decentralization of governance.

Development works worth Rs 350 crore, allocated under Swaraj Fund in budgetary proposals, is to be decided by these mohalla sabhas.

The proposals—constituting mohalla sabhas and creating PMU---have been sent to the L-G office for post-facto approval.

In a directive to the divisional commissioner A Anbarasu on Wednesday, Sisodia directed the department that “non-compliance with the order shall be viewed extremely serious”.

“It is deeply disturbing that despite all this groundwork, not a single Mohalla Sabha has been held and not a single rupee of the Citizen Local Area Development (C-LAD) fund has been spent…Such neglect of citizens is not acceptable to this government. The government intends to initiate Mohalla Sabhas at the earliest,” the order read.

“The revenue department is hereby directed to give a detailed timeline for when the following shall happen: activation of Mission Swaraj, appointment of honourary mohalla sabha coordinators and roll out plan for holding mohalla sabhas in all 70 constituencies, with dates and officials responsible for conducting the mohalla sabhas,” the directive added.

The development comes at a time when the Delhi government has been locked in war of words over files of Delhi government being scrutinised by a three-member committee set up by the L-G. The panel was set up after the Delhi High Court ordered that the L-G is the administrative head of the city.

Sources in the government said the implementation of the Swaraj Fund project has beem already delayed as almost seven months of the current financial year have passed.

“The government can’t afford to delay the process anymore as the project implementation involves several stages. But we have failed to even begin with the process pending approval,” an official said.