15 Delhi MLAs may assist the deputy chief minister and five cabinet ministers

NEW DELHI: After setting up a "thinktank" under the banner of Delhi Dialogue Commission chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP government is now preparing for a new experiment.

The government is planning to engage around 15 MLAs on the rank of parliamentary secretaries to assist the deputy chief minister and five cabinet ministers.

The move is proposed to expedite delivery of decisions in a government which came to power promising a new model of governance, quick grievance redressal and development in a corruption-free setup.

This will also be the first time in Delhi government where such secretaries will be attached to each minister. While the MLAs are likely to take up the assignments without any separate salary or perks, they will be working from dedicated offices in the secretariat. They will work on directions of the minister in-charge and be in office as and when required.

The names doing the rounds include Dwarka MLA Adarsh Shastri, who has been seen as the man giving shape to AAP's promise of free Wi-Fi at public spaces. He is likely to be the secretary on matters linked to the IT department. Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba is likely to assist the tourism minister, Najafgarh MLA Kailash Gehlot on law, Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar on education, Rajouri Garden MLA Jarnail Singh on power, Kasturba Nagar MLA Madan Lal on vigilance and Rohtas Nagar MLA Sarita Singh on transport or labour.

Other names include Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh, Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha and Laxmi Nagar MLA Nitin Tyagi. However, this tentative list and departmental assignments are yet to be finalized and will require an official notification of the state's General Administration Department for giving the appointments legal sanction.

Since the AAP government took charge, it has been experimenting with engaging all its MLAs in active governance. On February 27, the Delhi cabinet set up its thinktank packaged as a nine member Delhi Dialogue Commission.

The commission will give shape to a roadmap for delivering the "70-point plan" drawn from the Delhi Dialogue series put out as AAP's manifesto. The commission has Ashish Khetan as the vice chairman. Under the commission, about 21 issue specific task forces are to be constituted to bring the best practices and grassroots perspective on various issues to policy makers in government.