Precedent for good governance

Adding to the list of favourable and thus celebrated pro-people moves of the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, the doorstep delivery scheme is yet another initiative to take the government closer to people and governance a notch higher. And with the latest step of the government, the doorstep delivery scheme in Delhi scores a century with the addition of 30 more services. Concessional bus passes for senior citizens, disabled persons and students, registration of construction workers, conductor licence and pharmacy licence are some of the facilities that could now be availed through the scheme. With the ambit of the Delhi government's doorstep delivery scheme now extended to 100 utilities in the national capital, the city in indeed on its path to better times with respect to the constructive involvement of the government of their choice. This initiative at its present status is also a example that can be emulated the world over as it is the first of its kind initiative anywhere known in the world that enables citizens in Delhi to avail 100 government services at their doorstep. Especially a matter of respite to the people of India generally and of Delhi in particular, citizens are spared from the need to stand in long queues at government offices for hours, also bringing to an end multiple visits to government offices and the hassles coming associated with it for the common man. A remarkable thing also by the way checked through this initiative is the decimation of the scope of touts that had been a menace for people to avail public services. The reach for the scheme is made convenient with an online booking of an appointment or through a helpline number, in addition to a visit regional transport office or offices of sub-divisional magistrates in Delhi. Rendering the said initiative more valuable and effective, the Delhi government explains that there are three steps through which services are done at the government offices—visit to the government offices, where the success rate is 57 per cent and 43 per cent of applications get rejected; online applications in which 45 per cent of applications get cleared while the rest is rejected; and doorstep delivery, where the success rate is 91 per cent. This scheme has come a considerable distance since last September when it was launched. Implemented by the Administrative Reforms Department of the Delhi government, the AAP government had allotted Rs 18 crore for the scheme in the Budget 2019-20, which was later revised to Rs 10 crore.

The example of Delhi is truly one that stands out considering many of its complex aspects. A city that has turned toxic due to air pollution, the constant power struggles with the Central government, the challenges are in plenty. Taking constructive steps to restore the image of a safe city and breaking out of the label of 'crime capital' created by a series of incidents in the past, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has be successfully surviving and surmounting complex equations, especially with the BJP-led Central government. Addressing the most basic needs of the common people and with mindfulness for what the grassroots seek from the representatives they vote for has by far been the strength of the Aam Aadmi Party, in spite of the turbulent political existence it has had in less than a decade of its inception. Competing before a 134-year-old Congress that has virtually lapsed into an existential crisis and a BJP going ahead with the attitude of dominance over the most significant matters under its control, the young Delhi government has gone on to set a better example of good governance and welfare-oriented policy measures. Branded widely as an anarchist outfit with a bleak future, its electoral journey was not marked by the brightest beginning. Its electoral debut in the 2013 Delhi assembly polls won the party 28 seats but the government lasted only 49 days, only to return to power in early 2015 with a clean sweep mandate of 67 out of 70 seats. With the lofty ideals and promises of an alternative politics free of corruption, nepotism, opportunism etc., the on-ground effect of the Aam Aadmi Party has been one to garner the admiration and support of the common people. In the political play field, however, the common course of disagreements persists on various alleged accounts. When Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the doorstep delivery of government services, he had announced that this is a move to bring in a 'Revolutionary change in governance'. In terms of reception of services and the satisfaction from it, to a considerable extent, this has been true.