Road projects at ‘standstill’ due to ‘headless’ PWD, Atishi urges Delhi LG to appoint secretary

New Delhi, March 17

Delhi PWD Minister Atishi on Friday claimed that redevelopment of 1,400 kilometres of major roads in the city is at a standstill as a “regular” secretary to the department has not been appointed since mid-February.

In a letter to Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, Atishi alleged that the non-appointment of a secretary is a “deliberate attempt” to stall the elected government’s work.

The Delhi government’s services department falls under the purview of the Lt Governor.

IAS officer A Anbarasu has been assigned the charge of principal secretary in the PWD, alongside additional charge of principal secretary of Trade and Tax, according to orders issued earlier this month.

Till the time he assumes charge, Manish Kumar Gupta, the additional chief secretary of Land and Building, will hold charge as the PWD’s additional chief secretary, it had said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in January announced the redevelopment of about 1,400 kilometres of major roads in Delhi.

Atishi said in her letter a proposal was supposed to be placed before the Expenditure Finance Committee and the council of ministers for approval in February and work on the projects scheduled to start from April.

“However, it has not been done because no one has been posted as a regular secretary to the PWD since mid-February. Given that the project involves an expenditure of thousands of crores, those currently holding temporary charge do not feel confident to clear the proposal,” she stated.

The minister claimed that the PWD has remained practically “headless” for the last two months.

Vikas Anand, who took over as PWD secretary in November, was relieved of his charge on February 15. Since then, Sanjay Goel—by virtue of being the link officer—was handling the role of PWD secretary.

An order was issued on March 3 that Anbarasu will join as principal secretary in the department. However, as the order itself mentioned, he has not joined the Delhi government, she said.

“There is no clarity as to when he will join,” Atishi added.

Gupta was given charge as the PWD’s additional chief secretary—in addition to the charge of three departments he already holds, apart from being the nodal officer for three important government projects. However, he has been on leave since March 13, the minister said.

“The officers holding the charge in such quick succession, as a stop gap arrangement, do not feel confident to take decisions, especially when they are worth thousands of crores, thereby bringing crucial infrastructural development work in the national capital to a complete standstill,” she said.

Claiming that there are numerous such examples across different departments, Atishi asked how any governance can be done like this.

She also urged the Lt Governor to immediately post a regular secretary to head the PWD.