AAP government's Janta ka Budget sees thin but keen gathering

NEW DELHI: In densely-populated Madanpur Khadr on the south-eastern periphery of the city, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's experiment with participatory budgeting—Janta ka Budget—stirred about 365 of the estimated 11,000-strong electorate invited to the meeting though there were arrangements to accommodate a thousand by 9am on the Jalebi Chowk grounds.

Even so, the process began only after organizers anxiously waited for over two hours to get a decent number of voters in place to justify their claim of doing a 'people's budget'.

While those who attended harboured high expectations and stayed put through the heat well past lunchtime, raising hands to vote and filling out grievance forms enthusiastically, the AAP government certainly needs to put more focus on pre-meeting mobilization and awareness building so as to ensure a more representative exercise.

It was a similar sight at two other locations of consultation—a primary school at Madanpur Khadr and the polling centre at Aali Vihar. The count was 60 at the school, and about 200 at the Aali Vihar meet. There were more sessions in the afternoon and evening.

All these locations fall in Okhla assembly constituency, so area MLA Amanatulla was seen leading the talks with district authorities while officials of various departments lent an ear to the people who came forward to share their grievances. The MLA set deadlines for redress of grievances linked to sanitation, power meters, and ration shops and also promised action against errant officials.

Thousands of slum dwellers were relocated to this resettlement colony near Badarpur border with promise of a better life, but decades later rehabilitation is a far cry. The problems here are innumerable and only reflect how rehabilitation of slum dwellers has so far been an unplanned exercise.

A classic example is the potholed patch of road which is the only entry and exit from the main Kalindi Kunj bypass. Its reconstruction on urgent basis got 198 votes from the crowd. The next urgent demands were water pipelines and tankers followed by adequate drainage. Many women participated in the exercise.

Similar sabhas were organized in five other assembly constituencies—Karawal Nagar, Dwarka, Bawana, Patparganj and Chhatarpur. In Chhatarpur, residents listed out 13 main issues ranging from water scarcity to monkey menace. The morning session was, however, attended by only 70 voters. Kartar Singh Tanwar, Chhatarpur MLA, said the initiative is "a first that directly connects the people with the government".