Arvind Kejriwal accuses LG and Centre of not acting against crime, says CCTVs are a must

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New Delhi: The war of words over CCTVs in the national capital is far from over with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday once again accusing Lt Governor Anil Baijal and the Centre for not taking effective steps to counter crime in the city.

Underlining the importance of CCTVs, Kejriwal said that his government will go ahead with its plans of installing the surveillance cameras. "There's been an increase in crime including those against women in last few years, which is a matter of concern. Since law and order, and police, come under LG, PM and Rajnath Singh, they should take action. But we've seen that they haven't done anything," he said. "We've decided to install CCTV cameras."

The controversy surrounding CCTV cameras flared up when Kejriwal tore up an LG order which directed that cameras installed by residents need to be registered with Delhi Police. At the time, Kejriwal said that needing a license from the police meant increasing the chances of bribes being sought. In return fire, the LG's office said that people are being misled. "The fact that more than two lakh cameras have already been installed in the city without coordination highlights the need for a proper framework and information mechanism so that all CCTVs in public places installed in Delhi work optimally," a statement read.

Earlier, in May, Kejriwal and several cabinet ministers had sat on a dharna outside LG's office and asked him to not stall CCTV project. At the time, they had accused LG Baijal of acting at the behest of BJP.