One of the first administrative decisions of the AAP government to regularly hold weekly meetings with all the ministers and heads of departments for quick decision-making has reportedly taken a hit with half of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Cabinet colleagues and some senior bureaucrats skipping it this week in the national capital.
Soon after Mr Kejriwal’s government took over in Delhi, one of the key decisions it took was to hold weekly meetings with ministers and top bureaucrats so that decisions could be taken at a single platform and officers were able to exchange ideas in a freewheeling atmosphere. Breaking the convention, the government had also decided that the weekly meeting would be chaired by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia rather than the chief secretary.
During erstwhile chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s tenure, the weekly meetings of the HoDs were chaired by the chief secretary. But the AAP government had decided to do away with the old practice and bring in a system where ministers and officers would sit together to sort out issues for quick delivery of services at the grassroots level.
A senior officer said that most of the decisions in the meeting were generally finalised by Mr Sisodia. He said that there have also been occasions when some officers, without having any particular agenda of their respective departments, were also called for the meeting. Of late, some officers have reportedly started skipping these meetings.
At a recent such meeting, Mr Sisodia had reportedly expressed his strong reservations over the fact that three ministers and some top bureaucrats of key departments were not present.
Among the ministers who were absent were health minister Satyendar Jain, social welfare minister Sandeep Kumar and newly-inducted art & culture minister Kapil Mishra. Mr Mishra had got the Cabinet berth after law minister Jitender Tomar was arrested on charges of using his fake educational certificates.
Among the top bureaucrats who were absent were the HoDs of law and finance departments. A highly-placed source said that Mr Sisodia has directed all his Cabinet colleagues, secretaries and HoDs of all the departments to ensure they were present in the future weekly meetings. The deputy CM said that the presence of the ministers and senior officers was necessary to ensure all the inter-departmental issues were discussed and resolved at a single platform.
The source said that Mr Sisodia also advised that calling separate meetings for issues which could be resolved at a single platform should be avoided. He said that the presence of all the concerned at his weekly meetings would not only save time and energy but would also help utilise time in other public work.
There have also been occasions when Mr Kejriwal had participated in these weekly meetings. Only recently, Mr Kejriwal had announced the removal of his environment minister Aseem Ahmed.
