Governance lessons for AAP: No more 'Janta Durbars' for Delhi, to have online system for grievances

NEW DELHI: After chaos at his Saturday meeting, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that his government will no longer hold ' Janta Durbars'. "We will meet people who just want to meet me, once a week," Kejriwal said.

"For grievances an online system would be there," he said. "Now people can give online grievances. We will be setting up a call centre. Also, people can complain by post," he added.

Kejriwal-led AAP government had called the first of its kind Janta Darbar on Saturday outside the Delhi Secretariat to hear the grievances of the citizens. Though many complaints were received at the public meeting, it was marred by mismanagement as the venue, meant to cater to only 1,000 people, was bursting at the seams even as 500 Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel and scores of Delhi policemen tried to manage the crowd.

Delhi Police and Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel had a tough time managing the crowd as barricades at some places were broken down by the people.

The swelling crowd at the meet forced Kejriwal to leave the meeting half way through.

"We had not even imagined that so many people will turn out today. It was becoming difficult to manage them...If I had not left the venue, there was a possibility of a stampede," Kejriwal said.

Police estimated that 50,000 people had gathered in front of the secretariat. The crowd mostly comprised contractual workers from various government departments like DTC, power company BSES, different government hospitals, municipal corporations, among others demanding permanent status.