12 highlights
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The Central Vista Project is a tale of imperial power. By that definition, its deepest motivation is anti-democratic.
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A relentless pitch about ‘modernity’ and ‘national identity’ has kept its anti-people hostility carefully hidden behind a narrative that gives Central Vista an undesirable ‘colonial’ colour.
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As if Central Vista – despite being built by and paid for by Indians – never belonged to Indians because it was produced by the British whom this country freed itself from five generations ago.
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This is the account of how this project reached this stage, acquiring all its ‘approvals’ and ‘legal’ documentation by subverting an entire body of urban law with impunity, while the public and institutions stood by.
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A key justification that received massive public support was that J&K state laws had subverted democracy by blocking the 74th amendment unlike in the rest of India.
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The 74th amendment is touted as a sacred covenant of grassroots democracy that devolves power to the people. It empowers local bodies across the country to act independently of their respective state ministries and makes them the starting point of any development, funds usage or decision-making.
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No submission has been made to NDMC at all! Therefore, no one has checked for by-law compliance! This basically turns the entire superstructure of established urban law on its head!
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Secondly, in its place, even more alarmingly, has been inserted a government agency, the Central Public Works Department, or CPWD, which is not an elected local body but has terrifyingly acquired the power of one.
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The key to getting the Central Vista project passed in the most protected heritage zone in the country was to keep it absolutely under the radar and present it as a fait accompli with all the legal hurdles cleared so that no one could object.
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This action alone destroys the 74th amendment like no other, degrading its majesty and import to an abject, puny level that can be dismissed at will. This also meant it would remain without public accountability. Like the PM Cares Fund, it would be faceless, serve at the pleasure of the government and could not make information public.
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The original problem still remains this: no one has signed off on any papers certifying lawful compliance of this project.
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It was no surprise, therefore, that in an overt conflict of interest, DUAC chairperson PNS Rao, who is supposed to assess a project and decide whether it is worthy or not and has obtained all sanctions or not, would also be appointed, in a mind-boggling move, the chairperson of the Tender Evaluation Committee of the Central Vista project.