MLAs resent truant Ministers

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, AUG. 30. Increasing pubic resentment over the style of functioning and attitude of members of the Sheila Dikshit Cabinet has come in for sharp criticism at the hands of the party MLAs, workers and office-bearers. So strong is the undercurrent against the ``poor performance of certain Ministers'' that it threatens to snowball into a major controversy.

In fact, according to political observers here, it is high time the leadership reviewed the performance of certain Ministers as it is not only the Government's functioning which has been suffering, but also the image of the party. The Congress(I) Government has already crossed the half way mark and a thorough review of the performance of Ministers is long overdue. Those in the firing line are the Social Welfare Minister, Ms. Krishna Tirath, the Power and Industry Minister, Dr. Narendra Nath, and the Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister, Dr. Yoganand Shastri.

It is not only the people who have shown their disgust at the indifferent attitude of some Ministers but also party MLAs and Councillors, who are also resentful of their failure to perform. Interestingly, despite the new Secretariat shifting to the Players Building at ITO, the Ministers are hardly seen in their offices. ``One is fortunate if some of the Ministers are available in their offices since morning. Many of the Ministers have made it a habit to turn up only after lunch and sit for a few hours. There is virtually no check on how they are functioning as people continue to wait for hours. In a majority of cases they return disappointed,'' a party MLA remarked.

``The Ministers are expected to be more responsible and reach office on time to ensure that the officials working under them are present. However, this is a rarity. It is true they have to deal with the public in their areas, but then they have a responsibility towards the people of the entire Capital and not one area. Also the Ministers might come late on some occasions, but it has become practice with many to reach office only after lunch time,'' the party MLA added.

In fact, one of the Ministers is rumoured to be making rounds of the AICC(I) meeting Central leaders most of the time to consolidate his position.``His departments continue to be in a state of neglect and the performance level has left much to be desired. Despite that, he is least bothered about how things are being conducted. If he is so much obsessed with the AICC(I), then it would be better he is given some position there,'' another MLA added.

The general secretary incharge Delhi, Mr. Kamal Nath, should spare some time and listen to the MLAs on the performance of the Ministers and what remedial measures need to be taken to discipline them.

Not only this, the Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, too needs to pull up her Cabinet colleagues by undertaking a thorough review of their performance and submit it to the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, for necessary action. Further, it needs to be made mandatory for Ministers to be present in the Secretariat for a certain period of time every day so that the people know when and where to get their grievances redressed.

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