The Delhi Government has come out with guidelines for MLAs on utilization of local area development fund for installation of CCTV cameras in their constituencies. The state order firms up the August 20, 2014 directive wherein the urban development department made the provision to allow MLAs to use their funds for installation of the cameras as a safety measure in colonies and markets.
In August last year, when Delhi was under President’s Rule, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had directed the Urban Development Department to consider the proposal from the then RK Puram BJP MLA, Anil Kumar Sharma, on CCTVs. The department had followed up with an order to enable inclusion of installation of CCTVs in the list of permissible works under MLA-LAD.
The guidelines state that the CCTVs will be installed in places suggested by the MLA. “A committee under the MLA, with representatives of the area’s police station, RWA and market association, will be formed to select the sites and equipment which would be suitable for area surveillance,” the order reads. For installation of the surveillance system, the committee can select an agency from among any government agencies like PWD, NDMC, municipal corporations, irrigation & flood control department and ECSIL and ECIL-Rapiscan Ltd.
The equipment purchased from MLA funds will be maintained by the RWAs or market associations and no recurring expenses would be permissible. For this, the MLA will enter into an agreement with the RWA or market association.
Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj welcomed the guidelines as a step in the right direction. He got CCTV installation sanctioned in his previous stint, last year. “I got sanctioned nearly Rs 2 crore of the my funds for CCTV cameras and work has been executed in CR Park, two blocks of East of Kailash, many colonies in Alaknanda area and Panchsheel Enclave. However, I feel the pace of execution has been slow in some places and the agency involved needs to pick up speed,” he said. Bhardwaj feels that maintenance of the surveillance system needs critical attention and the department must work out a mechanism for it.
