L-G Saxena asks AAP govt to send names for labour welfare board
New Delhi: In yet another flashpoint between the two, Delhi L-G V K Saxena has asked the AAP government to reconstitute the Labour Welfare Board appointing suitable members or communicate opinion on the matter so that it could be referred to the President, sources said.
No immediate reaction could be had from the AAP on the matter.
The L-G and AAP government have had many rows in the past several months including the one over probes ordered by Saxena on complaints of corruption and the issue of sending teachers for training to Finland.
The labour welfare body remains without an executive board even after two years due to an impasse over eligibility criteria for appointment of the members.
“The L-G has asked for the Board to be constituted with members who have domain expertise in labour welfare or send the file to him for expressing difference of opinion,” sources at L-G office said.
The AAP government sat on a file meant for re-constitution of the Delhi Labour Welfare Board (DLWB) for more than 14 months, between June, 2021 and September, 2022 and finally sent the proposal with names for approval of the Lt Governor on September 12, 2022, they claimed.
The names proposed by the then labour minister, Manish Sisodia, and approved by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were not as per the criteria for selection of such members, sources at L-G Office said.
The members nominated to the Board, instead of being domain experts in labour welfare, were picked from among vaccination camp organisers, RWA presidents and individuals distributing food during Covid pandemic, they claimed.
The Lt Governor returned the file to the Chief Minister on November 21, 2022, with observations advising the Labour department to submit a panel of names for appointment after a thorough background check on their suitability and experience in related fields.
“Members of this Board perform important functions of welfare of labourers and therefore, it is important that such members must possess sufficient experience in the field of labour welfare.
“Such nominated members must demonstrate skill and expertise which reveal their capabilities to contribute to the cause of labour welfare,” the L-G had observed.
