No govt in place, infra projects go slow in Delhi

The absence of an elected government in Delhi has seemingly slowed down the pace of several infrastructure, development and social welfare projects in the Capital.

The absence of an elected government in Delhi has seemingly slowed down the pace of several infrastructure, development and social welfare projects in the Capital.

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While the administration — under the Lieutenant Governor — has taken control of the day-to-day affairs and has managed to carry out “routine” work with ease, sources confirmed that several development projects, which require constant direction, coordination and monitoring, have lost pace.

Construction of flyovers and elevated roads on a 20-km Outer Ring Road stretch between Vikaspuri and Wazirabad, extension of Barapullah Road from Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium and INA and construction of an elevated road parallel to the Rao Tula Ram Marg flyover to decongest Outer ring Road in South Delhi are some of projects that have been affected.

The administration has put on hold thousands of applications under the food security and government pension schemes, for want of a clear direction on whether to continue with them or to sweep them under the carpet.

Sources in the government said not much had moved for almost seven months, or roughly the time when state elections were announced in September last year.

The sources said it was initially the Aam Aadmi Party government that avoided taking decisions on big policy matters, which put brakes on development and welfare plans. This was followed by President’s rule. Then came the model code of conduct in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, preventing administrative heads of various departments to take decisions on “important files”.

“The absence of a political head has severely affected the speed of projects. There are certain issues that require coordination between different departments or sometimes require clearances from neighbouring state governments,” a senior government official said.

Officials in the L-G secretariat said Najeeb Jung was holding regular meetings with officials and clearing all files escalated to him promptly. “Whatever issues are brought to his notice are taken care of immediately,” said an official who is not authorised to speak to the media.