New Delhi. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Shri Devendra Yadav said that this step of MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) is going to take it backward. Under this, instead of encouraging RWAs (Residents Welfare Associations) to help the MCD in keeping the parks clean, they have been made required to obtain the approval of the area councilor. He said that when Congress was in power in Delhi, RWAs were given full support to do social work through 'Bhagidari Scheme' to encourage citizen participation in civic management and neighborhood cleanliness.
Devendra Yadav said that under special rules, MCD has made it mandatory for RWAs seeking financial assistance or formal partnership to develop and maintain municipal parks to obtain approval from the councilor or mayor of the area. This will reduce the enthusiasm of many RWAs to do any public service for the welfare of the residents.
Devendra Yadav said that many councilors are not able to even complete the tasks assigned to them for proper care and development of their respective wards, hence burdening them with additional responsibility will hamper their already assigned tasks. He said applications submitted by RWAs to adopt and maintain MCD parks usually require the consent or approval of the local councilor or mayor, which would not only delay the work but also increase corruption.
Devendra Yadav said that under Public-Private Partnership (PPP), RWAs get standard maintenance charges (say Rs 13,500 per acre per month) and free fertilizer from civic waste centres, but when area councilors get involved, they impose many conditions to hinder the social work of RWAs, thereby creating unnecessary hardships for RWAs.
Devendra Yadav said that if the counselors of BJP and Aam Aadmi Party had done their work with full dedication and responsibility, then tragic incidents like the death of a 14-year-old boy due to drowning in a drain without a lid would not have happened. He said that after the rains, school children from many residential areas have to wade through filth, garbage and stagnant water to reach schools because the MCD has made no effort to keep the city clean after the rains and deploy sanitation workers to prevent epidemics like water-borne diseases. He said that residents are facing a lot of problems due to living amidst filth and garbage, and many councilors in the area have not taken any initiative to clean it.