Delhi L-G temporarily dissolves DDCD, AAP says ‘petty politics’

New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has approved temporarily dissolving the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDCD) and removal of its non-official members till a mechanism is developed for screening and selection of domain experts as its vice chairman and members, Raj Niwas officials said on Thursday.

In a file noting marked to the Delhi chief secretary, the L-G noted that the whole exercise of creating the DDCD by the incumbent government was only to extend financial benefits and extend patronage to certain favoured political persons of partisan inclinations.

“Ostensibly, the Commission was created to serve as a policy think-tank manned by domain experts, on the lines of the Planning Commission/ NITI Aayog, so as to provide inputs of governance that a political executive assisted by mostly generalist civil services may be deprived of.

“It was not meant to accommodate favoured individuals, unelected friends or politically partisan people,” it read.

Saxena said the positions of vice chairperson and non-official members were envisaged to be co-terminus with the term of the incumbent government.

“Albeit initially, these positions were honorary, they were subsequently converted into highly paid and perked positions, viz. the Vice-Chairperson, DDCD in the rank, pay, and facilities equivalent to the Minister of GNCTD and the non-official members in the rank, pay, and facilities equivalent to Secretary to the Government of India,” he said.

Saxena noted that as per the Planning Department of the Delhi government, there is no work allocation amongst the Members of DDCD.

Reacting to this, the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi announced its intent to challenge Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Saxena’s decision to dissolve the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) and remove its three non-official members. Terming the move “illegal, unconstitutional, and without jurisdiction,” the Delhi govt asserted that only the Chief Minister has the authority to act on DDCD members. “The L-G’s sole purpose in dissolving DDCD is to stop all the works of Delhi government,” the statement read. They emphasised that the DDCD, established on 29 April 2016, has been a key policy think-tank for the Delhi government, contributing to significant initiatives such as the Delhi EV Policy 2020 and the Green Delhi mobile App.

Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj criticised the L-G’s actions as “petty politics,” pointing out that political appointments are common in commissions and boards across India, including in BJP-ruled states. “It is well known that all commissions, committees, and boards of the Central govt and state govts across India, often have political appointees without any formal tests or interviews,” he said.