Complete major projects before state elections: CM to ministers

In his first meeting after the Lok Sabha elections, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asked his cabinet colleagues to submit progress reports of all flagship projects being undertaken by the Delhi government.

Eyeing the assembly elections scheduled early next year, Kejriwal asked the ministers to ensure major projects are finished within the next eight months, before the model code of conduct comes into effect again.

Officials said the CM, in the hour-long meeting at the Delhi secretariat, expressed his dissatisfaction over a slowdown in even those works that were allowed to be carried out during the model code of conduct.

“Basic work of doing a survey and preparing a list of spots for installations of CCTV cameras were not done in the last two-and-a-half months. The CM asked all MLAs to expedite their survey along with RWAs to select ideal places for the cameras. Fresh deadlines have been sought for all projects,” said a media advisor to the chief minister who was present in the meeting.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has launched a project of installing 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in all residential and market areas across the city.

The project to set up 1,000 mohalla clinics was also discussed. So far, the government has been able to set up not more than 200 clinics. The CM asked officials to identify more places for these clinics and ensure proper maintenance and presence of staff and doctors in the operational ones.

Kejriwal’s six cabinet colleagues — Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Satyendar Jain, Imran Hussain, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Kailash Gahlot — and Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev were present in the meeting.

Of the 4,000 new buses being bought by the government to augment public transport in the city, transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the first batch of 50 standard-floor buses will be rolled out by June-end.

Another batch of 100 buses is expected to arrive in Delhi by July-end, he said. Apart from this, a bidding meeting for low-floor buses will be held on May 29, while a pre-bid meeting on electric buses is scheduled for June 3.

Hours after the meeting, deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who is also in charge of tourism, inspected Signature Bridge that connects outer Ring Road with Karawal Nagar and Bhajanpura in North East Delhi.

“Reviewed the construction of the tourist point at the top of the pylon of the Signature bridge today. Happy to see peak-time traffic flowing seamlessly. With a capacity of 50-60 people, this point would surely be the best place to enjoy picturesque sunsets in Delhi,” Sisodia said.

The series of meetings came four days after AAP faced a drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. In Delhi, the party lost on all seven seats and finished third as per the overall vote share. The BJP retained all the seats and the Congress gained and got the second highest vote share.

First Published:
May 28, 2019 05:58 IST

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