Delhi's Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Atishi wrote to the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena urging him to appoint a Secretary for the works department on a priority basis.  Through the letter, PWD Minister Atishi, reminded the Lieutenant Governor that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced in January the redevelopment of about 1400 km of major roads in Delhi.

"This entails the upkeep of footpaths and the maintenance and repair of the central verge of roads, the blacktop of roads, etc. This project is being undertaken so as to deliver a world class road experience to the citizens of Delhi, at par with European standards,” she wrote.

Atishi asserted that while the proposal for this project was supposed to be placed before the EFC and the Council of Ministers for approval in February 2023 and the project was scheduled to start from April 2023, the same has not been done because no one has been posted as a regular Secretary to the PWD since mid-February. Given that the project involves an expenditure of thousands of crores, those currently holding temporary charge do not feel confident to clear the proposal.

The Minister went on to assert that the PWD has remained practically 'headless' for the last 2 months. Providing more details, Atishi added in the letter: "Vikas Anand- who was PWD Secretary from November 2022 to February 2023 - was relieved of his charge on 15th February 2023, after which no officer was posted as the PWD Secretary. Sanjay Goel, by virtue of being the Link-Officer, was handling the charge of PWD Secretary. An order dated 3rd March