New Delhi: Former civil servants who have served the Central and state governments in various capacities, have lashed out at the Narendra Modi government’s Central Vista redevelopment project, and questioned the rationale behind its “pursuit of pomp and grandeur” at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods.

Describing themselves as being part of ‘Constitutional Conduct Group’, as many as 69 former bureaucrats in their open letter to the prime minister have said that the manner in which the project is being carried out amounts to complete disregard for the rule of law and “executive highhandedness”.

“Whether it was in inviting design options, selecting consultants, holding fair and transparent stakeholder consultations, obtaining approvals of the institutions and authorities dealing with urban design, planning and environmental clearances – everything was done to ensure that rules and procedures were given short shrift, due processes treated with contempt and a predetermined plan of action bulldozed through,” reads the letter.

The letter questions as to how the prime minister could go ahead and lay the foundation stone for the new project while the matter is still sub judice. It reminded the prime minister that the Supreme Court on December 7 took up the matter suo motu demanding an undertaking from the government that no action would be taken before it gave its final orders.

The former civil servants have also wondered as to how the prime minister could lay the foundation stone for the new parliament building given that the prime minister is only the head of the executive, and not that of the legislature. This, the letter has observed that, amounted to “constitutional impropriety” on the part of the prime minister.

Additionally, it has pointedly asked the prime minister the number of trees being cut to make way for the new project, and the environmental disaster it entailed. It notes that the tearing hurry on the part of the government to execute the project is reflected by the different figures it has given to various government agencies on the number of trees cut for the purpose.

The former government servants have lamented that the government has chosen to pump vast sums of money for a project driven by “monumental ambition” to take precedence over improving public health infrastructure that has been severely strained and has been proven inadequate to respond to the shocks posed by the pandemic.

In the case the government still intends to go ahead with the project, the former civil servants have asked the government to subject the project to critical scrutiny by citizens and independent experts. They have asked for the plans to be redrawn to make them compatible with environmental and heritage conservation standards, and the due processes of law relating to such projects must be followed.

Below are the signatories: