With Assembly Elections in Delhi heading closer, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday sought to rope in the industrialists through the Government’s Bhagidari scheme. At an interactive session with industrialists at PHD Chambers of Commerce, Dikshit said, “We will start a kind of ‘Bhagidari’ (association) in the industrial sector too. This will benefit the industrial sector as the stakeholders will be able to develop their plans because the Government would financially assist them.”
In January 2000, the Delhi Government had started the Bhagidari scheme in residential colonies. The aim is to promote a meaningful partnership between the Government agencies and citizens, basically covering the provision of civic services.
“The Government has made Bhagidari the root of all developmental and welfare schemes, and till now 3,500 citizen groups are involved in the system. At present, the Government gives `1 lakh per month to every citizen group for welfare of the residential colonies,” the Chief Minister said.
“The Government is willing to provide money for running this scheme. Now, I would request the industrial community to form welfare associations so that the Government can disburse money for the welfare of the industry,” she said adding that if materialised, the plan would make a difference in the industrial sector in the Capital. She even announced that the State Government was planning to form a committee comprising five to six members from both industry and State to formulate a roadmap on how to solve various issues relating to industrial growth in the Capital.
Dikshit admitted that industrialists often faced problems due to multiplicity of authorities in Delhi and exhorted the fraternity to join hands with the Government to find a solution to their problems. “Industrialists in the Capital complain of multiple problems as there are a number of parallel agencies from which the industrial/commercial establishments have to obtain permissions or licenses for running their businesses,” Dikshit added. The industrialists demanded that a single window service should be started by the Delhi Government to which the Chief Minister responded in affirmative.