Spat over govt’s doorstep services plan boils down to pizza and LPG delivery
Delivery of pizza can also not be compared with the documents proposed to be delivered through the ‘mobile sahayaks’ as the latter would involve sensitive personal information.
ANIL BAIJAL, lieutenant governor If a pizza delivery, LPG gas delivery, credit card executives and others don’t pose a threat, how can doorstep delivery of services be a threat to the safety and security of women and other citizens? MANISH SISODIA, deputy CM
NEW DELHI: The standoff between lieutenant governor Anil Baijal and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government over doorstep delivery of services scheme narrowed down to an argument over delivery of pizza on Thursday.
To the government’s comparison of the scheme with pizza and LPG cylinders’ delivery on Wednesday, the office of the L-G, on Thursday, termed the correlation ‘misplaced’ saying “pizza, unlike documents, cannot be downloaded.”
The government was quick to respond saying the instances of the delivery of pizza, gas cylinders and insurance were given to counter some of the L-G’S observations. Responding to Baijal’s security concerns, the Delhi government on Wednesday had said if doorstep delivery was a threat to safety and security of the people then the LPG gas delivery, pizza delivery, to name a few, were also security threats.
“There is no technology so far to download pizza and many other e-commerce products, whereas most of the proposed services in the government proposal can be and are already being delivered online. Moreover, delivery of pizza can also not be compared with the documents proposed to be delivered through the ‘mobile sahayaks’ as the latter would involve sensitive personal information,” a statement from the L-G office said on Thursday.
The statement further said, “Unlike e-commerce, which is a B2C (Business-to-consumer) transaction, government has to be more sensitive and responsive to safety and security concerns in the proposed system, which would be a government-to-consumer (G2C) transaction.”
In response, the AAP government said, “If the delivery of pizza doesn’t cause any traffic congestion and pollution, then how come delivery of services at doorstep would cause traffic congestion and pollution.”
To Baijal’s concerns with women and citizen’s safety, the government responded, “If a Pizza delivery, LPG gas delivery, credit card executives and other don’t pose a threat, how can doorstep delivery of services be a threat to the safety and security of women and other citizens?”
“The concern in our humble opinion appears to be misplaced,” it added.
In a related development, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday visited government offices to take stock of delivery of services to the people and collect their feedback.
“People told the deputy CM that they have to stand for long hours in the queues and have to visit the office time and again to get their job done. This makes them either spend a lot on transport to visit the office numerous times or have to pay to the touts to get their job done fast,” the government statement said.
The government on Tuesday blamed the L-G for ‘rejecting’ the delivery scheme, while the L-G office denied the charge and clarified that the proposal was “not rejected” but, instead, sent back to “reconsider” its present form.