No demolition without rehabilitation now: Delhi CM after meeting Prabhu

In an apparent attack on AAP dispensation over the demolition of jhuggis in Shakur Basti, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said “government is not run with ego” but as per requirements of the situation, as she pressed for better coordination between state and Centre.

Earlier in the day, Prabhu told the Lok Sabha that encroachments were a safety hazard that have been impeding development and that he will discuss with Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal ways to clear such public land.

Maken, has sought in his plea that the Railway Ministry and Delhi police be restrained from finishing up any additional eviction or harassment of individuals dwelling in Shakur Basti till applicable rehabilitation has been offered.

Meanwhile, AAP and TMC MPs staged a protest outside Parliament over the demolition of Shakur Basti.

Senior party leader and MLA Sanjay Singh made similar charges and said as per court orders passed in the past, the Railways should have arranged for rehabilitation of people.

“It is shameful that both the Centre and the Delhi Chief Minister could not prevent it”, he said after a visit to the site of the eviction drive. “Instead they should provide help to the people who have been displaced & rehabilitate them”. “When they returned, they found that the heap of clothes was lying on the kid”, he said.

The Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojna for urban poor has already been scrapped by the AAP government without bringing in any new policy for slum dwellers.

A bench of Justices J Muralidhar and Vibhu Bakhru had termed it a “pathetic act” as “peoples’ lives are concerned and we can’t be so informal”. The deceased’s parents said they didn’t receive consequential help from anyone.

The Aam Aadmi Party blamed the central government for the demolition.

Kejriwal reacted on Twitter, calling Gandhi an immature Congress leader who did not know that the Railways – which carried out the demolition in Shakurbasti on Saturday – was controlled by the Central government.

The railways said the demolition was carried out after three notices, the first one with the March 14, 2015 deadline. “Notice to vacate before 30 September, 2015 was given but they did not vacate”, the railways said in the statement, adding another notice was given for vacating the land by yesterday. The demolition was carried out to teach a lesson to these people who had voted for Arvind Kejriwal.