Ease of doing business improved under AAP government, says CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the ease of doing business in Delhi had improved significantly under his government.

Speaking at an event, "The Coalition, a festival of creativity", held at Talkatora Stadium on Saturday, he said now event management firms can obtain approval from various departments online in 20 minutes, which used to take almost five months earlier.

The three-day conference is being attended by students, artists, writers, musicians, producers, directors, designers, actors, entrepreneurs, among others.

"There are at least 27 departmental clearances that the organiser of an event requires to obtain. Event management companies tell me that the fire department comes to check whether they can be given an NOC or not just an hour before the event. In such a scenario, event managers agree to any condition put forth by the officials and sometimes they (officials) resort to blackmail too," Kejriwal said, stressing the need to cut red-tape to create a business-friendly environment in the city.

"Now, clearances can be obtained online in 20 minutes, which previously used to take four to five months. Even the organisers of the Zubin Mehta concert told me that it was much easier to get clearances now," the CM added.

He said that Event and Entertainment Management Association had complained to him that a section of bureaucrats often demands complimentary passes before giving clearances. "I personally bought tickets for my family for a recent event and tweeted about it so that a message goes down the line that if the Delhi CM is not getting free passes, neither should you," Kejriwal added.

He invited restaurant owners to make a detailed presentation on problems faced by the industry in procuring licences. The audience, mostly comprising youngsters, suggested a vibrant night life complements creativity and that Delhi should follow other cities like London and Berlin and relax curfew hours.

Among other suggestions were lowering the legal drinking age from 25 and incorporating design solutions in governance. Citing the example of the bus rapid transit ( BRT) corridor, a designer presented his point view on how its flaws could have been avoided if design solutions were incorporated in the project.

"It is hard to find designers who have expertise across the board-designing of signage and infrastructure projects needs a different level of expertise. But we will work towards incorporating more designers," he said.