India News | Delhi Services Bill Likely to Bring in Clarity, Streamline Governance: Bureaucrats
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A section of retired and serving bureaucrats expressed hope that the bill tabled in Parliament on Tuesday to replace an ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would bring in clarity in the chain of command and eliminate any confusion that might hamper governance.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) A section of retired and serving bureaucrats expressed hope that the bill tabled in Parliament on Tuesday to replace an ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would bring in clarity in the chain of command and eliminate any confusion that might hamper governance.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which gives the lieutenant governor the final say on the transfer and posting of officials of the city government, was tabled in Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid vociferous protests by the opposition.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Delhi, termed the bill the most "undemocratic" piece of paper ever tabled in Parliament and asserted that it will replace democracy with "babucracy".
Asked about the bill, former Delhi chief secretary P K Tripathi said there should be clarity in matters of governance which will suffer if there is a confusion among the bureaucracy over the official chain of command. Any lack of clarity hampers governance, he said.
The former top bureaucrat said he felt that a chief minister must have control over the bureaucracy otherwise he will not be able to execute governance and development-related works.
"However, the fact is that Delhi chief minister never had power over the bureaucracy. It's because...Delhi still remains a Union Territory," Tripathi said.
Before the AAP came to power in 2015, a system was put in place wherein the chief minister's recommendations on transfer and posting of bureaucrats were by convention approved by the lieutenant governor.
The lieutenant governor used to exercise his powers in transfer and posting of officers of the commissioner and above levels while giving a "long rope" to the chief minister in the transfer and posting of other officers, he said.
A bureaucrat serving in the Delhi government emphasised that Delhi is the capital of the country and the Union government has to have the final control over administrative services.
"For a place like Delhi which is the national capital, it is essential that the control should be with the Centre because even through transferred subjects, one can wreak havoc with the system," the officer who did not wish to be named said.
Another senior officer in the Delhi government hoped that the passage of the bill will "streamline governance" by settling the issue of control over administrative services.
"The bill essentially brings services matter within the domain of LG. It means any prevailing confusion among officers over whether to follow instructions of the elected dispensation or the LG will be finally put to rest for the time being," the officer stated.
The Centre had on May 19 promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi.
The ordinance virtually negated the Supreme Court verdict on May 11 that gave the elected AAP dispensation control over services, including transfer and posting of bureaucrats of the city government.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)