With no Minister being appointed even after five months of Raaj Kumar Anand’s resignation as a Cabinet Minister, new policy decisions and fixing problems with existing policies are being affected in Delhi government departments held by him, officials in multiple departments told The Hindu. However, routine work hasn’t been affected, the officials said.
On April 10, Raaj Kumar Anand resigned from his post as a Cabinet Minister and also gave up his primary membership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He held various departments, including labour, social welfare, and SC/ST/ OBC/minorities welfare. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was out on interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case, before returning to jail on June 1, accepted Mr. Anand’s resignation as Minister and recommended the same to the L-G, but a replacement was not named.
Officials said that they send some files directly to the Lieutenant-Governor through the Chief Secretary, but many policy decisions are affected in the absence of a Minister.
When contacted, the Delhi government spokesperson did not offer any comment. But a source at the Chief Minister’s Office said, “These decisions have been stalled by the officials. Since the residual portfolios fall under Cabinet Minister Atishi, they should have been assigned to her without delay.” The CMO source was referring to a December 2023 notification saying that any department not allotted to any Minister will be held by Atishi. However, a senior Delhi government official said that the notification was issued much before Mr. Anand resigned and hence not applicable in this situation. Officials at departments held by Mr. Anand also confirmed that Ms. Atishi never took any meetings as a Minister.
‘Confusion persists’
A Delhi government scheme, offering free coaching for various competitive exams for students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), is non-functional despite the Chief Minister’s assurance of restarting it.
“The government has worked out a solution to fix the scheme, but there is still some confusion. A new scheme is being thought about, but it needs the approval of the Cabinet as per rules and you need the Minister’s approval also before it. Even making major changes to an existing scheme needs the Cabinet’s approval,” an official said.
Another official at the Labour Department said several decisions are pending on Rozgar Bazaar 2.0 portal (a job portal) and job fairs, which have been stuck for a long time. “The Minister knew the issues and was supposed to chair a meeting on the matter, which never took place after Anand’s resignation,” the officer said.
Published - September 13, 2024 12:38 am IST
