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Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has approved temporarily dissolving the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDCD) and the removal of its non-official members till a mechanism is developed for screening and selection of domain experts as its vice chairman and members, according to an official release issued from the LG Office on Thursday.
In the release, the LG noted that the whole exercise of creating the DDCD by the incumbent government was only to extend financial benefits and patronage to certain favoured political persons of partisan inclinations. "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," the release said. "Politically appointed persons holding these positions, were allowed to continue on these positions at the whims and fancies of the Chief Minister," it said. "There was no screening through a transparent process, and huge salaries were paid from the public exchequer, which was incommensurate to the duties assigned. It is a blatant and clear case of nepotism and favouritism in utter disregard of all rules," it added. The release said, "The Planning Department of the Delhi Government has put on record that there is no work allocation amongst the Members of DDCD and, therefore, the continuation of non-official Members, drawing huge salaries is not only "undesirable" but also patently illegal." The release further said that all the Members of DDCD were being paid salary in the rank and pay equivalent to the Secretary to the Government of India. "LG has also asked the Finance Department to humanly explore the possibility of recovering salaries paid to these non-official members of DDCD," it added. The decision, aimed at instituting a new screening mechanism for the selection of domain experts sparked a political firestorm as Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj reacted to the same by terming it as "petty politics." "LG's dissolving Delhi Dialogue Commission is petty politics. This is well known that all Commissions, Committees, and boards of the Central Govt or BJP-ruled state Govts have political appointees without any test/interview. It's an old practice. Women Commission, SC/ST Commision r all live examples. The irony is even Viay Saxena's appointment as LG is a political appointment without any advertisement, test, or interview," he said in a post on X. The AAP leader said if there was an advertisement in newspapers for the post of LG, then he must enlighten the people of this country. "Probably he competed in the written exam for becoming LG," Bharadwaj added. In 2022, DDCD vice-chairman Jasmine Shah was restricted from discharging his duties, and his office was sealed while the facilities enjoyed by him were withdrawn following an order by the LG. (ANI)
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