Bhagidari scheme: Sheila Dikshit’s pet project that involved citizens in decision making process

The Bhagidari scheme, started by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in the national capital, was one of the most important initiatives launched by her government that involved people, including resident welfare associations and civic society, in the decision-making process.

It was also an initiative aimed to promote participatory democracy, Delhi's former civil supplies minister Haroon Yusuf said Sunday.

In an event organised by the think tank, ORF, in October 2008, Dikshit had said the idea behind this scheme was to involve people in the democratic process.

Dikshit passed away Saturday afternoon at a private hospital here after suffering cardiac arrest. She was 81.

When the Bhagidari scheme was launched, about 11 citizen groups were identified. It later grew to more than 2,000 groups.

Under the scheme, monthly meetings were held with the RWAs, which Dikshit addressed personally through video conferencing.

Citizens complained about water shortage, broken pipelines, poor condition of roads and bill-related complaints.

There were local officers sitting at one end of the online interaction, while senior officials sitting at the other end. They interacted with each other and discussed the problems.

Yusuf said the scheme also had some monetary allocation for the RWAs under which they could write to the local sub-divisional magistrate to get their minor works done.

The scheme received appreciation from various national and international agencies. The Department of Administrative Reforms, Government of India, documented the practices followed in the scheme, which was sent to all states of the country to assess whether similar practices could be followed there.

The Delhi government also received an award from the Commonwealth Community as well as the United Nations for best practices in governance.

Yusuf said the programme, however, lost traction after the Congress was defeated in 2013.