COVID-19 brought forward Delhi Raj Niwas’ shortcomings

The pandemic has been a bad time for the national capital. In addition to the usual hassles which residents of the national Capital face in their day-to-day life, contagion for sure has magnified the shortcomings in the administrative structures of the national capital.

To illustrate the point further, let’s look at some cases at hand. First, there was the issue of the release of salary to the doctors working in the hospitals directly under the charge of the Delhi government. The matter raised it ahead even as the city battled with the first surge of the pandemic and the number of those infected and those dying soared.

It took the court’s intervention to get the salaries released, and the Ministry of Home Affairs intercession to create structures for overcoming the challenges posed by the virus. Thereafter was the issue of release of salary to the teachers of Delhi University colleges funded by the Delhi government. Once again it took a court order for the release of part payment, rescuing several families from the verge of starvation.

Now there is the crisis related to the release of salary to the doctors working in the hospitals which are governed by the three municipal corporations of the city. The BJP-led corporations and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government have been washing dirty linen over the non-payment though they should have been putting their heads together and finding the solution to the problem.

In the midst of all this, it’s the office of the Lieutenant Governor which has remained quiet all through, though this is the apex authority as far as the governance of the city goes. The National Capital Act of 1993 has made the Raj Niwas (office of the Lieutenant Governor) as the repository of all the powers and all the other authorities including the Delhi Government work under delegated powers.

The Lieutenant Governor additionally is also head of Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority, the two important departments, which are directly responsible to the Raj Niwas and neither the state government nor the municipal bodies have any control over them. The Raj Niwas is also the apex body in the financial matters, which is notified in the NCT Act. No financial notifications can be issued by the Delhi Government without the L-G’s approval.

Therefore, it left many surprised when the Delhi Government directed Delhi University colleges funded by it to spend money on salary from the students’ society funds. The general refrain was how could the Raj Niwas approve of a move which was in the direct contravention of the general financial rules as notified by the government of India from time to time.

Similarly, in the state-administered GGS Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), where the Lieutenant Governor is the chancellor, chaos is prevailing as far as the conduct of the examinations and announcements of the results go.  This has greatly jeopardised the future of several students, who have been offered admissions in centres of higher education in India and abroad.

The Lieutenant Governors of Delhi since 1993, PK Dave, Tejendra Khanna, Vijay Kapoor, BL Joshi, Tejendra Khanna again and Najeeb Jung, have all been very effective administrators ensuring an effective administration behoving the national capital.

However, the same cannot be said about the incumbent Anil Baijal. Though he came to office enjoying the reputation of being a very effective officer of the Indian Administrative Service, his tenure can be faulted on many counts for having failed the residents of the city. His failures to lead the administration from the front during the pandemic has been well illustrated in the crisis after crisis which has come to engulf the city including the riots which preceded the pandemic.