RTI response confirms 'fake' inauguration of Subhash Maidan car parking

30 January, 2013

An RTI response, reluctantly provided after a hearing at Central Information Commission by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), has confirmed that construction-work of a car-parking at Subhash Maidan (Parade Ground) at Delhi is still incomplete.

The extension for completion of the project has been extended till 31.01.2013 even though a formal inauguration was done in a hurry on 15.02.2012 evidently for political gains in civic-body elections at that time.

Documents also reveal that names of area-representatives in Lok Sabha state-assembly were deleted from invitation-cards and inauguration-stone. It is significant because both the representatives whose names were deleted belong to the opposition party in the civic body.

It is against the protocol and norms to make inauguration a single-party affair. Enquiry should be made if area-representatives to Lok Sabha and state-assembly declined to attend the fake inauguration because the parking has not been operational even now after one year of the hurried inauguration made just before notification issued for civic-body elections in Delhi.

Some strong action, including disqualification to contest elections for next say six years, should be taken against political rulers having misused power for such fake inauguration. It is indeed improper that such fake inaugurations are done for political gains in elections. On the contrary, several important public-utility projects built at huge costs to public-exchequer are not used for long time because political rulers don’t get time to inaugurate the complete projects.