Lt Governor Temporarily Dissolves Delhi Government Think Tank, AAP Hits Back

Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena has approved temporarily dissolving the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDCD) and the removal of its non-official members till a mechanism is developed for the screening and selection of domain experts as its vice-chairperson and members, Raj Niwas officials said on Thursday.

Reacting to the development, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi said it will challenge the LG’s “illegal” decision in courts.

In a file noting marked to the Delhi chief secretary, Mr Saxena said the entire exercise of creating the DDCD by the incumbent government was only to extend financial benefits and patronage to certain favoured political persons of partisan inclinations.

“Ostensibly, the commission was created to serve as a policy think-tank manned by domain experts, on the lines of the Planning Commission/NITI Aayog, so as to provide inputs of governance that a political executive assisted by mostly generalist civil services may be deprived of.

“It was not meant to accommodate favoured individuals, unelected friends or politically partisan people,” the file noting read.

The LG said the positions of the vice-chairperson and non-official members were envisaged to be co-terminus with the incumbent government.

“Albeit initially these positions were honorary, they were subsequently converted into highly-paid and perked positions, viz. the vice-chairperson, DDCD in the rank, pay and facilities equivalent to the minister of GNCTD and the non-official members in the rank, pay and facilities equivalent to the secretary to the Government of India,” he said.

Mr Saxena noted that according to the Delhi government’s planning department, there is no work allocation amongst the members of the DDCD.

“Therefore, the continuation of the non-official members, whose appointments were made in an arbitrary manner without following any procedure, drawing huge salaries is not only undesirable but also patently illegal. To say the least, it is a blatant and clear case of nepotism and favouritism in utter disregard of all rules.

“Accordingly, the proposal of the service department … for rescinding the appointment orders of the non-official members is approved,” the file noting read.

“Additionally, the proposal of the services department … regarding exploring the possibility of dissolving the DDCD as an interim measure etc. … is also approved,” it read.

In the communication, Mr Saxena cited an April 29, 2016 notification that said the non-official members are appointed by the chief minister in the rank, pay and facilities equivalent to the secretary to the Government of India or as may be determined by the chief minister.

“However, all the members were paid salaries in the rank and pay equivalent to the secretary to GoI, without exercising any option of determination of their pay by the chief minister.

“This clearly demonstrates that the chief minister did not exercise any prudence in determining the salaries payable to the non-official members, which should have been commensurate with their job description. The payment of such a huge salary without such determination is a clear violation of the said notification dated 29.04.2016 and is a clear case of favouritism only on political considerations,” the file noting read.

The LG has also asked the finance department to humanly explore the possibility of recovering the salaries paid to the non-official members of the DDCD.

In 2022, DDCD Vice-Chairman Jasmine Shah was restricted from discharging his duties and his office sealed, while the facilities enjoyed by him were withdrawn following an order issued by the LG.

In a statement, the AAP government said the LG’s decision to dissolve the DDCD and remove its three non-official members is “illegal”, “unconstitutional” and “a brazen violation of the jurisdiction of his office”.

Asserting that the DDCD comes under the chief minister and only he has powers to take action on its members, the statement alleged that the LG’s sole purpose in dissolving the DDCD is “to stop all the work of the Delhi government, which has been his singular contribution to the governance of Delhi ever since he assumed office”.

“We will challenge this illegal order of the LG in the courts. The DDCD was constituted vide gazette notification dated 29.04.2016, which was approved by the then LG of Delhi. A plain reading of sections 3 and 8 of the notification explains that the non-official members of the DDCD are appointed solely by the decision of the chief minister and only he has powers to remove any of the members before the completion of their term.

“However, in brazen disregard of existing rules and laws as well as decisions of his predecessors, LG Vinai Saxena, acting in collusion with officers of the services department, has chosen to exceed the jurisdiction of his office and tried to usurp the powers of the elected chief minister of Delhi by taking action on the DDCD. It is categorically stated that the appointment process for the vice-chairperson and members of the DDCD is similar to the process followed for public commissions in all state governments across India, including in BJP governments,” the statement read.

The sole purpose of Mr Saxena’s “illegal” order is to stop all the work and policy reforms being carried out by the Arvind Kejriwal government, it added.

“In the process of hating the elected government under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, LG Vinai Saxena has started hating the people of Delhi. He very well knows that the DDCD, which acts as the policy think-tank of the Delhi government, has played a key role in shaping the Delhi model of governance over the years,” it said.

The statement added that the DDCD has made a defining contribution in shaping many flagship policies and welfare schemes of the government, such as the Delhi EV Policy 2020, the Delhi Solar Policy 2016 and 2024 and the Rozgar Bazaar initiative.