Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Monday said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal led protest outside his office is “misleading” the public.
The statement issued from the LG’s office said that despite seeking time to meet the Lt Governor on the issue of installation the CCTV cameras in Delhi, “Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his council of ministers along with MLAs and one Member of Parliament preferred to sit on dharna near the Raj Niwas rather than meeting the Lt Governor to resolve the issues for which they marched to the Raj Niwas.”
“This is despite the fact that the Lt Governor offered to meet the Chief Minister and his council of ministers and one Member of Parliament and had already clarified in his letter… that no instructions have been given to stall or stop the award of work for installation of CCTV by the elected government,” the statement said.
On 15 May, the L-G had formed a committee to come up with a standard operating procedure for installation, operation, and monitoring of CCTVs in the city. However, the AAP government termed the committee “unconstitutional” and alleged that it is a ploy to stall the project in the city.
The statement said the Chief Minister was more comfortable in making the allegations against the L-G without basis and based on unwarranted apprehensions about the stalling of the project of CCTV.
READ: CCTV: AAP stages dharna outside Baijal’s office after ‘permission denied’ to MLAs
“Chief Minister conveniently ignored the actual fact that his own Cabinet has not even as yet considered the departmental proposal for CCTV. It is only after Cabinet approval that such proposals are sent to the LG and in this case no such approval has been accorded by the Council of Ministers and sent to the LG for his consideration,” it said.
The statement said that the committee formed under the Principal Secretary (Home) has very clear terms of reference and is only to facilitate successful implementation of CCTV surveillance.
The statement said that the aim of the government cannot be mere physical installation of CCTV cameras, rather the objective should be on how CCTVs will be used to enhance security and safety of women, aged and vulnerable sections, how these will be used to prevent and detect crime without at the same time compromising with the fundamental right of privacy and meeting with the requirements of The Information Technology Act, 2000.
“It was unfortunate that the Chief Minister and his delegation refused to meet the LG, despite the LG making time to discuss the issue and proposals as perceived by the Chief Minister.
“The LG reiterates that safety of women, aged and children is the highest priority and successful outcomes from installation of CCTV should be the goal of stakeholder departments, coordinating and working as per agreed and approved standard operating procedures,” the statement said.