New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to ensure that the Cabinet note on the one-time settlement scheme for inflated water bills be placed before the Cabinet with comments from all departments by the end of this week.
However, sources in the chief secretary’s office said the Delhi Jal Board is yet to finalise the scheme.
In a note to Kumar on Monday, Bharadwaj said he had directed the chief secretary on February 15 to ensure that the Cabinet proposal is processed and brought before the Cabinet by early the following week.
“I had again on February 21 directed the chief secretary to ensure that the proposal is expedited and the Cabinet note is brought before the Cabinet by the end of that week,” read the note.
Bharadwaj has now asked Kumar to ensure that the Cabinet note is placed before the Council of Ministers by the end of this week.
“The entire week has passed and, in spite of repeated requests and directions to the chief secretary, the Cabinet note is still awaited. It is hereby directed that the Cabinet note, alongwith the comments of the departments, be placed before the Council of Ministers by the end of this week,” the minister said in the note.
If the departments fail to provide comments, they can place their comments directly during the Cabinet meeting, he added.
In a note to Bharadwaj, Kumar noted the decision regarding the one-time settlement scheme was taken by the Delhi Jal Board in its 166th board meeting on June 13, 2023.
“The file was submitted to Saurabh Bharadwaj on August 31 last year, and the file remained pending with Bharadwaj till January 3, 2024, ie for a period of more than four months,” a source in the chief secretary’s office said.
On January 9, Bharadwaj sent the file back to the Delhi Jal Board, saying it is already re-working the proposal of Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) and bill re-casting scheme/one-time settlement scheme, the source said.
The chief secretary’s note also mentioned the file being returned to Water Minister Atishi on January 11.
The matter was proposed and deliberated upon by the board of the Delhi Jal Board in its 167th meeting on January 17. The draft minutes were submitted the next day for Atishi’s approval, the source claimed.
The Delhi Jal Board, in its status note on February 23, also informed that minutes of the 167th meeting are still pending with Atishi since more than a month and there are substantive changes in the decisions taken by the Delhi Jal Board on January 17 vis-à-vis decisions taken in its previous meeting on June 13, the source added. PTI SLB SZM
About the Author
