Synopsis
A survey by Praja Foundation reveals that eight AAP MLAs did not raise any issues in the Delhi Assembly from March 2023 to April 2024. Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain were in judicial custody during this period. The overall performance score of MLAs has been declining.
PTIEight MLAs, all belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party, did not raise a single issue in the in Delhi Assembly in the past one year till April 8, a survey report claimed on Thursday. The Delhi MLA Report Card 2024 prepared by Praja Foundation, an NGO, said the scope of the survey was expanded to evaluate the consolidated performance of the legislators who served in the Assembly for a minimum of three years.
The report card assessed the performance of the MLAs from March 17, 2023 to April 8, 2024. All the eight MLAs who did not raise a single question during this period belong to the AAP. Two of them, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, were in judicial custody during the period under review.
BJP MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri secured the first position in raising questions with a score of 81.81 per cent, followed by Bhupinder Singh Joon of the AAP at 78.77 per cent, and Rajesh Gupta, also from AAP, at 74.55 per cent, the report said.
All three highest-performing MLAs achieved their scores by effectively performing their constitutional duties – raising a great number of citizen’s issues with highest attendance in the Assembly sessions, the report said.
“The consolidated performance of the MLAs in the seventh Assembly, however, presents a concerning picture. Compared to the sixth Assembly, the average score of the 70 MLAs has been on a downward trend over the years.
“In 2022, the average score was 51.30 per cent, which decreased to 50.90 per cent in 2023 before dropping further to 49.29 per cent in 2024. Two MLAs did not raise a single issue in the last four years, while eight MLAs did not raise a single question between March 17, 2023, and April 8, 2024,” Milind Mhaske, CEO of Praja Foundation, said in the report.
Pooja Verma, Associate Manager at Praja Foundation, said an encouraging trend, however, is seen from 2021 onwards with the total number number of issues raised by the MLAs steadily increasing.
In 2021 (March 8, 2021 to November 26, 2021), the MLAs posed 521 issues, followed by 872 issues in 2022 (January 3, 2022 to September 1, 2022) while the numbers went up to 1,147 in 2023 (January 16, 2023 to December 15, 2023).
“There has been a consistent rise in the number of inquiries related to critical issues such as crime, education, and transport. However, the number of health-related questions has declined.”
The most troubling trend is observed in the area of stormwater drainage, where the number of issues raised fell from 31 in 2021 to 26 in 2022, and then to just six in 2023, Verma added.
