Delhi government

Susheela Kumari was a quiet, average class 5 student studying in a school run by one of Delhi’s three municipal corporations. Now, authorities in two schools are looking for her. Susheela has not violated any law. And she is not the only student for whom there is such a close — almost police-like — hunt! This scenario playing out in the national capital could be described as bizarre — teachers in both municipal corporations schools and schools run by Delhi government are in a race to locate students like Susheela who have passed the 5th class. The reason given is that these…

Delhi is perhaps the only state government so far to set up a committee specifically to help revive the city’s economy. Headed by Jasmine Shah, a technocrat,  the 12-member Committee on Economic Revival of the City, comprising representatives from the government, municipal corporations and trade and industrial bodies, is drawing up plans to enable the informal sector, small shops and businesses in particular get back on their feet. In its first meeting on July 8th, the committee, decided to focus on revisiting licensing norms and increasing demand to push trade and industries. Jasmine is an M Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras and…

Delhi has no COVID war room. But the capital had become the centre of attention in the fight against COVID-19 when on June 9th, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia estimated that Delhi, groaning under an acute shortage of hospital beds, would need over 5.5 lakh beds by end July. A shocked public, the city administration, hospitals and even Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepped in. The BJP at the Centre and AAP in Delhi called a truce as they joined hands to deal with what was becoming a crisis in the capital. Their crisis management efforts finally yielded some positive results. At 10.25…

Kulsum Khatun and husband, a rickshaw puller, are residents of Jagdamba camp in Sheikh Sarai. Over the last few months of lockdown in the capital, none of them were able to find any work. “My two daughters, aged 7 and 9, study in a government school in Malviya Nagar (South Delhi),” said Kusum, “Mid-day meals were very important for us since we hardly make enough to feed them twice a day. Now, even that has stopped. We received around Rs 95 in March but nothing since then.” On March 23rd, seven days after the COVID crisis forced closure of all…

In ongoing efforts to deal with monkeys causing disturbances and impacting health in human settlements, the Delhi government is planning a census of monkeys (rhesus macaques) in the capital city. The monkey species, which has now adapted to the urban environment, is often involved in cases attacking humans. After two decades of effort, the government has now roped in the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, to study the “numbers and behaviour” of the animal. In 2018, more than 950 cases of monkey bites were reported in the capital. The proposed census will help the Delhi government identify the number…

The three-year war of attrition between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Lt Governor Anil Baijal over installation of CCTV cameras across the capital appears to be over. Work has now begun on the plan to install 2000 cameras in each of Delhi’s 70 assembly segments, one of the flagship programmes of the Arvind Kejriwal government. The objective is crime prevention. As per police records, Delhi sees one murder, six robberies, as many rapes, nine molestations, 19 snatchings, 126 vehicle thefts and 17 fatal road accidents every day, besides the ever present threat of terrorist attacks. Making the security…

Atishi Marlena's soft smiles belie the steely timbre in her voice when she speaks of issues. She is the point-person for education and has made it a central electoral plank for the fledgeling Aam Aadmi Party governing Delhi. Though she was "dismissed" as advisor to the Education Minister Manish Sisodia by the Centre in April 2018, she had by then spearheaded eight key projects, calling for 120 meetings - almost eight per week - since the beginning of the year. Atishi was christened 'Marlena' as a fusion of 'Marx' and 'Lenin' by her leftist Delhi University professor parents, though she recently dropped…

In a unanimous and all-over-news verdict, the Supreme Court last week favourably defined the powers of the Delhi government led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), giving it greater autonomy and limiting the scope of interference by the Lieutenant Governor (LG). The verdict declared that the LG is "bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the Government of Delhi" in all matters except three: land, police and public order. While Delhi does not yet have full statehood, the elected government now has more room to make and implement policies that had since hit a roadblock…