LG Najeeb Jung orders DDA to finalise restructuring plan in two weeks

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung today gave a deadline of two weeks to Delhi Development Authority to finalise a restructuring plan to bring transparency, efficiency and accountability in the organisation.

The direction came amid mounting criticism against DDA for alleged corruption, bureaucratic red tape and delay in implementation of various important projects.

At a review meeting, Jung directed top DDA officials to finalise the restructuring plan in the next two weeks and place it before him for final orders.

The Lt Governor, who is administrative head of DDA, asked the agency to computerise all its works and services by September next year. The computerisation project will commence in November.

The restructuring of DDA will be carried out to enhance its productivity and will be governed by the principles of responsibility, accountability, effective decision making, transparency and supervision, officials said.

DDA officials said broad contours of the restructuring plan have already been prepared and these will be fine tuned in the next two weeks. The DDA is the land owning agency in the city and has been mandated to provide housing for various segments of the population. DDA's permission is required for almost all major infrastructure projects.

The meeting also examined a report by the National Productivity Council which was tasked in April to suggest measures to improve functioning of the DDA.

In the report, the National Productivity Council recommended rationalisation of the "vertical command structure" in the DDA and said certain non-critical and non-technical operation should be outsourced.

The suggestions include mergers of certain departments with overlapping areas of work and creation of new positions/functions such as those involving land development and management of housing schemes.

The report recommended further strengthening DDA's expertise on critical and technical areas such as planning and architecture.