Sheila given time-frame to improve services

Amitabh Shukla

New Delhi, July 23

The Congress high command on Saturday gave a time-frame of a month to the Sheila Dikshit government to improve the power situation in the Capital and restore the faith of the consumers.

The directions came in almost two hour long meeting of the Coordination committee of the party, headed by AICC general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Delhi, Ashok Gehlot. To monitor the power situation closely and thrash out other contentious issues another meeting of the coordination committee has been called in the next 2-3 days.

Party sources said that Dikshit had come well prepared in the meeting. She had the report card of the government and its achievements on various fronts. However, due to the gravity of the power situation and directions of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue, almost the entire discussion was focused on power. The AICC leaders asked Dikshit to improve the situation so that it is “visible” to the Delhi consumers.

Dikshit was also pulled up for blaming the Centre on the law and order situation in the Capital. Sources said that the high command took exception to the statement made by Dikshit on the recent case of rape in a moving car. Dikshit had said that law and order was with the Centre and women were not feeling safe in the city.

The Delhi leaders raised the issue of industries in the meeting and said that the government had failed to notify the industrial areas which have 70 percent concentration of industries.

Due to the differences arising between the party and the government on some issues, it was decided that the coordination committee would meet at least once every month. The committee has two AICC leaders – Gehlot and Janardan Dwivedi, chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Two Delhi ministers – A.K. Walia and Raj Kumar Chauhan and three from the organisation – DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma, Ajay Maken and Tajdar Babar.

This was the first meeting of the coordination committee which was formed after Dikshit had walked out of a DPCC Executive Committee meeting in April leading a political crisis of sorts within the party.

Gehlot said that the meeting was called to discuss the issues and problems of the city. On the power problems, he said that complaints of fast running meters, erratic supply and billing complaints had been received and a strategy is being chalked out to pressurise the discoms to improve the situation. (2005)