Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said a "serious constitutional crisis" has arisen in the national capital as officers are saying they will not work because of alleged "threats and pressure" from the BJP. This problem stems from Delhi not enjoying full statehood and the real power lies with the central government, which is led by a different party, and "that other party does not want that the elected government (of Delhi) does its work", he said during his address in the Delhi Assembly.
Kejriwal also said the one-time settlement scheme to rectify water bills is being "obstructed" by some officers. The chief minister alleged that the officers are being threatened to block the one-time settlement scheme for correcting water bills because of pressure from the BJP.
Kejriwal also claimed the officers' unwillingness to work has led to a "serious constitutional crisis" in Delhi.
He appealed to Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena to call the officers for clearance of the scheme and added that 10.50 lakh families will benefit from this "good scheme". Kejriwal said a large percentage of Delhi's population is a "victim of erroneous, inflated bills".
Explaining the metrics, he said, "We introduced a scheme to solve the problems of the people of Delhi -- a one-time settlement scheme."
The chief minister said his government works for the people, and mocked the opposition BJP by claiming that they had "overlooked" the issues of the people and were reduced to three or eight seats in the assembly. Thousands of crores in revenue have "got locked" in this scheme, he said.
This scheme is so good, it was passed last June and should have been implemented immediately. It's been eight months but these officers have "refused to do it", he claimed. "Today, the situation is that this scheme has to be brought to the Cabinet. It will get implemented if the Cabinet approves it. For this, the (Delhi) finance secretary has to give his comments," Kejriwal said.
The finance secretary, however, has written that he won't give comments, the chief minister alleged. When the Delhi urban development secretary was asked about it, he said he was "awaiting comments" from the finance secretary, Kejriwal added.
"A senior bureaucrat even shed a tear, saying it's 'a matter of our jobs, we are being threatened'," Kejriwal alleged. "When I asked who was threatening them, he said, 'higher-ups'. You know what higher-ups mean ... If they pass this scheme for the people of Delhi, then they shall be suspended ... Why (do) they keep fighting for the Services (department), as their intentions are wrong," he said.
The chief minister claimed that officers are being threatened that they will be suspended or fired or sent to jail or central agencies will be "set after them". "A serious constitutional crisis has arisen (here) as officers have put it in writing that they will not work. If they do this, how will the government run? Can it run for even two days? Does it behove the Centre and the BJP that an elected government has been brought to such a state?" Kejriwal asked.
"And, who all are behind it? The BJP is behind it. The BJP hates the people of Delhi," he alleged.Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Monday alleged in the Assembly that the Kejriwal government itself sends meaningless bills of the Jal Board to the people of Delhi and then brings a scheme to waive off these bills worth lakhs.
Levelling this charge, Bidhuri also said when this scheme is not implemented then the blame is put on the officials. He said the Delhi government should explain how the Jal Board, which was in profit of Rs 600 crore in 2013, has now gone into loss of Rs 75 thousand crore.
During the discussion on the calling attention motion in the Delhi Assembly, Bidhuri said that how serious the Delhi government is about the Jal Board can be known from the fact that a calling attention motion was presented in the Assembly but in the discussion, the concerned minister of the department and Jal Board Chairperson Atishi is not present.
