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Center-Center-DelhiNEW DELHI: The Rekha Gupta-led BJP government in the national capital has introduced a unique system to involve party legislators in the functioning of the executive. Under this model, six MLAs have been attached to each of the seven ministers. These MLAs will act as the eyes and ears of the executive and report governance-related issues only to their assigned ministers.
Sources in the government said that, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative encouraging MPs to adopt villages for holistic development, the newly formed Delhi government has asked its ministers to “adopt” MLAs. The idea is to address issues in the MLAs’ respective constituencies more effectively.
This move is expected to promote active engagement between MLAs and ministers and help speed up ongoing development work in their areas. It will also give each legislator a chance to raise constituency-related concerns directly with their assigned minister, who will then discuss them with other cabinet colleagues during internal meetings, sources said.
With this decision, MLAs will not only have direct access to the ministers but also to their departments and officials. This means MLAs cannot deny their involvement in governance or avoid their responsibilities toward residents. They will be directly accountable for resolving people’s issues, as they are now part of the full chain of governance.
Additionally, each minister will now take responsibility beyond their own department. They will have to deal with various public issues, ensuring there is no gap between ministers and legislators.
“With the engagement of MLAs with ministers, the BJP government is presenting a new level of governance where MLAs and ministers will work in coordination. They won’t have to run from one department to another or face issues related to jurisdiction, which is a common problem in Delhi. If this experiment is successful, it will speed up development work, improve organisational efficiency in delivering daily services, and reduce execution time. If the goal is achieved as planned, it will be a milestone in the governance of the city,” sources claimed.
“Earlier, we had to wait for Vidhan Sabha sessions to raise issues and seek appointments with ministers at the Secretariat for various matters. Since we are all newly elected and have almost no experience in governance, we were facing difficulties in getting our work done. Even the ministers are new to us. With this new model, we expect better outcomes in terms of governance,” said a BJP MLA, not wishing to be named.