Delhi government names AAP leaders to Metro directorial board

In a first, the Delhi government has nominated members from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as directors of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), instead of bureaucrats.

This comes at a time when the Arvind Kejriwal-led government has locked horns with the BJP-led central government over offering free rides on the metro to women, the metro’s phase-4 expansion plan and, previously, over fare hikes.

The Delhi government and the Centre have equal stake in the DMRC, and equal representation of five directors each on the 17-member DMRC board of directors.

The Delhi government has nominated prominent AAP leaders Raghav Chadha, Atishi, party Rajya Sabha member ND Gupta’s son Naveen Gupta, and Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah. Chadha and Atishi had fought and lost the recent Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, while DDCD is a policy think-tank of Delhi government.

Delhi government’s directive was issued by transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Saturday in which he had asked the DMRC to appoint the four new directors to the corporation’s board with immediate effect.

Officials in the government said that the file pertaining to nominating members to DMRC’s Board was shuttling between departments for the past six months. “But the names being considered then were that of top bureaucrats and not politicians, which has been the usual practice until now,” an official said.

A media advisor to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that this is the first time that the Delhi government has nominated “non-bureaucratic” directors to the Metro’s Board. The advisor said that the move is aimed to “fiercely” support the AAP government’s views in the Board on issues such as Metro fare hikes and free travel.

“So far, the Delhi chief secretary, principal secretary (finance) and secretary-cum-commissioner (transport) have been the nominated members from the Delhi government. The other directors from the city administration’s side are retired IAS officer Ramesh Chandra (former Delhi finance secretary) and DMRC managing director Mangu Singh. With the four new directors, we hope that our views do not go unheard in the Board meetings,” the advisor said.

“All the necessary formalities may be completed immediately, so that they are able to attend the Board meeting scheduled on July 16. In case the formalities are not completed in time, the Board meeting scheduled on July 16 may be postponed by a week, so that the nominee directors of GNCTD can participate in the Board meeting,” read the minister’s order dated July 13.

While the DMRC refused to comment on the issue, metro officials, who are not allowed to speak to the media, said that the Board meeting did take place on Tuesday. However, the four new directors were yet to be officially inducted into the Board till the time this report was filed. A decision on the new directors will be taken by the other Board directors only, a metro official said.

When Metro fares were increased in 2017, the AAP government blamed the then chief secretary for not attending DMRC’s board meeting that discussed the matter.

The nominee directors from the government of India include Durga Shankar Mishra, secretary of the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MH&UA), who is also the chairman of the Board, K Sanjay Murthy, additional secretary (d), MH&UA, vice-chairperson of the Delhi Development Authority Tarun Kapoor, among others.

First Published: Jul 17, 2019 05:56 IST