Delhi: administrative and governance issues
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Contents |
Ration/ PDS system
2018: Digital system rejected 16% of ration cardholders in 1st month
Digital system rejected 16% of ration cardholders in 1st month, March 13, 2018: The Times of India
Over 4.2 lakh cardholders weren’t able to avail rations under the public distribution system in the first month of the ration disbursal system being fully digitised and shifted to point of sale (POS) devices. These people constitute 16% of the total ration cardholders. A similar trend was observed in February, the second month. Just 12 days into March, the department of food and civil supplies is now keeping a close eye on the data watching out for absent beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the minister for food and supplies Imran Hussain has issued an order to the commissioner of the department and sent a copy of the same to the chief secretary saying that several names have been deleted from the ration cards, several thousand have been added to the existing ones, and several thousand new ration cards have been made in the past two to three months without following the due process of law. He has ordered that the process for making new cards and the additions and deletions made to the existing ones lists to be stopped immediately and in case of any urgent changes, prior approval of the minister is must.
It is important to note that each of the 4.2 lakh card holders has three to four people registered under the same card, the number of those who have failed to claim their ration is huge and a cause of concern. The department is now planning to draw up a list of these absent beneficiaries and send out notices to their addresses.
In Delhi, around 72 lakh people are registered for ration under the National Food Security Act and the enrolment of eligible beneficiaries was done after taking their Aadhaar number.
While the department refutes the possibility of bogus enrolments, the officials say that these people appear to be migrants who came to Delhi, got themselves registered, and then left the city. However, this is all a matter of speculation as the number of those who are not coming forward to avail ration is very high.
The department is proposing to cancel the cards of those who do not come to claim ration for three consecutive months and don’t respond to the notice to be issued after March. It then proposes to open the process for adding new cards by enrolling eligible beneficiaries.
Revenues
Liquor revenues: 2016-18
Ambika Pandit, Steep rise in liquor revenue in February, March 13, 2018: The Times of India
From: Ambika Pandit, Steep rise in liquor revenue in February, March 13, 2018: The Times of India
Excise Dept Hopes To Reach This Year’s Target Of ₹4,700cr
At a time when Delhi government is preparing to present its budget for 2018-19 in the assembly session scheduled from March 16, revenue collections from liquor seem to be going strong and the excise department is hopeful of reaching its target of Rs 4,700 crore this year.
Of the Rs 4,317.5 crore collected so far in 2018, February recorded the highest collection of Rs 580 crore. This is a steep 41.3% increase over Rs 410.5 crore collected in the same period last financial year. The department attributes this exceptional increase to monitoring of the liquor supply network and warnings to the big fish in the liquor trade to follow the rules or face action.
Excise commissioner Amjad Tak said the focus is on strengthening enforcement, crackdown on violators and streamlining the issuance of liquor licences to restaurants and hotels to weed out intermediaries and touts. Currently there are 843 liquor vends, while the total number of licensees is 1,903, which include restaurants and pubs.
In FY 2016-17, excise collections were Rs 4,244.2 crore. The department has already collected Rs 4,317.5 crore till March 11 this fiscal. Tak hopes that as this is the year-end, more people will come forward and pay excise duty making the revenue target manageable.
Tak said that the department is carrying out a drive through the excise intelligence bureau (EIB) to catch violators to bolster revenue collection.
“The department has analysed the pattern of confiscated liquor brought from outside Delhi. It has been found that about 65% is country liquor, a bulk of it belonging to two distilleries. EIB has been specifically asked to gather intelligence about the place from which the consignments from these distilleries are being dispatched to Delhi,” Tak added.
The department has also issued directions to all registered licensees and vends that inventory of liquor showing stock as “sold” should be cleared by March 15 after which penal action will be initiated as per Delhi Excise Act rules along with terms and conditions of their licences.
Besides this, the department has also taken the critical step of plugging loopholes, which includes firming up of special operating procedure (SOP) for liquor licence applications by restaurants and hotels. From now, applicants will be given a licence within one month if the application is complete and fulfils all prerequisites.
As the application process is online, the SOP stipulates that there is no need to visit to the department. In case of queries, applicant can contact the assistant commissioner or deputy commissioner (excise). In case they do not get a proper response from officials, applicants can contact the PS to commissioner (excise). The timeframe for resolution of a query has been set at 2-3 hours.
“Those who face problems in uploading documents or any other technical issues can call the helpdesk for assistance. This will help weed out touts and intermediaries,” Tak asserted.
Vacancy
From: Ambika Pandit, Half a govt? 50% staff shortfall in Delhi, says report, April 3, 2018: The Times of India
35k Vacancies Out of 77k Posts In Education Dept
The Delhi government is facing a crippling staff shortage with an average 50% of posts lying vacant across departments. A report highlighting the crisis shows that the shortfall in 20 key departments ranges from 20% (power) to as much as 87% (law).
Government sources say the situation is grave and can impact implementation of key projects.
At a time when public transport is seen as the answer to Delhi’s pollution woes, the transport department has a 62.7% staff shortfall. Half the posts are vacant in revenue; excise, entertainment and luxury taxes; social welfare; education; statistics and economics; and planning.
The PWD, which has the task of implementing and maintaining infrastructure projects, is grappling with an almost 40% staff shortage. In terms of absolute numbers, the education department has most vacancies: 34,970 against the sanctioned strength of 77,305.
The data is learned to have been compiled for an assessment of the governance challenge facing the state and is likely to be part of a white paper on the “performance” of the lieutenant governor.
Govt says budget goals not met due to vacancies
The document, put together by the political executive, is expected to be tabled in the Delhi assembly on Tuesday by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Reliable sources told TOI that a significant part of the report is dedicated to the services department that handles the bureaucracy. The white paper will be the Arvind Kejriwal-led government’s latest political salvo. It will argue that with the LG in charge of “services”, as stated by the Delhi high court in an August 4, 2016 order, the AAP government finds itself helpless when it comes to appointing, selecting, transferring and posting staff, besides expediting recruitments.
Interestingly, a majority of these vacancies actually pertain to posts that are to be filled through examinations and selection by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) of Delhi government. In the light of HC’s judgment, the AAP government has been arguing that all services-related matters now fall in the LG’s jurisdiction, including the accountability of DSSSB. Sources claimed that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues have written to the LG regarding the vacancies and that it is now the responsibility of the LG to fill the vacancies.
Education being a priority for the AAP government, sources pointed out that the number of sanctioned positions for teachers is 66,128 but only 34211 regular teachers are currently employed. This means that there are over 30,000 vacancies in the schools of the directorate of education. “Of the 76 posts for deputy directors of education (DDE), only 14 are currently filled. When a large-scale audit of accounts of the private schools was to be conducted, the deputy chief minister requested for 12 DANICS officers to be deputed as DDEs for this purpose. Not only did the LG fail to provide this manpower, he never responded to the government’s letter, government sources alleged.
In this context, the political brass cites the outcome budget 2017-18 that was tabled in the ongoing budget session to point out that several departments have not been able to achieve their proposed outcomes. “An important reason for this seems to be the unusually large number of vacancies in all departments,” sources said.
