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DNA SPECIAL: Start reducing staff strength, ministry tells DDA

Ministry has directed the authority to analyse loss of revenue as a result of excess staff

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Picture for representational purpose only — dda.org.in
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The land-owning agency of the national Capital -- Delhi Development Authority (DDA) -- will soon witness a 40 per cent reduction in its staff strength. The Urban Development Ministry has directed the authority to stop stalling the process of restructuring and rationalisation of the staff strength.

The ministry has also directed the authority to "analyse the loss of revenue as a result of excess staff in DDA and take appropriate steps to deal with the situation at the earliest". The Urban Development Secretary has asked the DDA to start the process of staff reduction soon.

DDA has been stalling the process for the last two years, telling the ministry that the "average age of employees in DDA is 56 years, and in the next four years, there will be a lot of retirements".

It has been alleged that ostensibly, the delay happened "due to lack of initiative and the lackadaisical attitude of DDA". "An analysis of this sequence of events reveals that there is total lack of coordination between the ministry and the authority," a source in the Central government said.

The need to reduce the number of staffers was felt after the introduction of computers and policies such as land-pooling. The DDA also felt the need to assess the current manpower requirement and streamline various processes for efficient functioning in the authority.

Afterwards, the National Productivity Council (NPC), in consultation with the authority, released a report on excess staff in DDA on October 29, 2014. The report suggested a 40 per cent reduction in the existing staff number by carrying out comprehensive computerisation and outsourcing certain functional activities.

But the authority has been stalling the implementation of the report. It even asked the NPC to carry out a fresh study. Through a letter dated July 6, 2016, DDA informed the ministry that the NPC has submitted a draft revised proposal on reconstructing of the authority on October 23, 2015.

A senior ministry official said the DDA had assessed the recommendations and requested the NPC to revisit the proposal with respect to engineering, land disposal and housing departments on June 10, 2016. Later, again on July 25, 2016, DDA stated that the NPC had not yet submitted the revised final report.

But in November last year, the council submitted its draft report, in which it has recommended ways to improve the work flow, including scrapping a few posts and identifying works that can be outsourced to professional service providers.

DDA, however, kept quiet on the report, fearing protests.

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