With not much to show by way of infrastructure development in the past year, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Tuesday that 2011 was primarily about launching and strengthening social sector schemes.
Ms. Dikshit, who released the Working Report 2011 of the Delhi Government, said on the sidelines of the event that various welfare schemes for women and children, adolescent girls, the old and the infirm and in the field of health care, education, sustained support for economic growth and self-sufficiency were launched and strengthened during the year.
The Chief Minister said that during the year the Government also tackled the issue of corruption in Commonwealth Games-2010. “We have nothing to hide. The report of the Prime Minister-appointed Shunglu Committee is with the Group of Ministers while the report of the CAG is with the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. If anyone is found to be in the wrong, we will not spare them,'' she said.
On the Delhi Lokayukta indicting a Delhi Minister in a corruption case, Ms. Dikshit questioned where impropriety was involved. “It was only a phone call and we all make calls as part of routine work. The President of India had sought our report on the matter and has not found anything wrong in the matter.''
As for the Delhi Government's priorities in 2012, Ms. Dikshit said the focus would be on making Delhi the cleanest city in the country. Also she said, “the trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which covers 97 per cent of Delhi and was becoming unmanageable, has been done and there is a lot of work at hand for ensuring that the transition to three new Corporations takes place smoothly.'' Earlier, in her annual address, Ms. Dikshit also declared that the Delhi Government will also not hesitate in amending rules and procedures in order to achieve the goal of housing for the poor and other vulnerable sections of the society, including jhuggi dwellers.
Ms. Dikshit said by providing 50 per cent reservation to women in the new municipal bodies, her government has also made Delhi the first city in the country to do so.
She said the Government would also be focussing on proper maintenance and upkeep of the assets that were constructed during the Games. Further, to make Delhi a slum free city, she said the allotment of constructed low cost houses to industrial workers, slum dwellers and other workers would be expedited.
Referring to a recent survey, she said Delhi has the highest per capita income of Rs.1,16,886 and the consumption pattern shows that people here enjoy relatively better levels of living standards.Ms. Dikshit said the Delhi Government is now waiting for the Food Security Bill to be finalised by the Union Government to streamline the Public Distribution System (PDS). She also dwelt on the in-principle approval to Mono Rail in Trans Yamuna area.
Delhi Chief Secretary P.K. Tripathi said now the Government would also move towards greater transparency by having full public disclosures of the procedures and processes as well as promotion of electronic cash transfer system of concurrent and social audit, e-tendering and elimination of monetary transaction through cheques. Besides, the vigilance mechanism would be upgraded.
In order to implement the Right to Education Act in totality, Mr Tripathi said more than 100 sites for construction of schools have been identified and sanction for 13,000 posts of teachers for schools was under consideration.
