A bureaucrat remembers: how Sheila Dikshit changed the face of  the capital

Sheila Dikshit was Chief Minister of Delhi from 1998 to 2013. This was a momentous period for Delhi with many challenges like air pollution, water shortage, power shortage and poor infrastructure. Her three terms as CM changed all that. Many of the challenges are continuing but she faced them head on with great success. Her vision of Delhi as a modern city worthy of being called the capital of a rising nation was by and large fulfilled.

She used to say that Delhi is rich in human resource but poor in natural resources. She was a committed environmentalist. She implemented the program for conversion of all public buses from diesel to CNG very swiftly and this brought about a substantial improvement in air quality. Not only that, when new buses had to be introduced into the public transport system, she insisted on introducing low floor buses which were integrated body buses. She had the vision to introduce air conditioned low floor buses as well, despite the huge cost as compared to the earlier plying high floor buses mounted on truck chassis used by the Delhi Transport Corporation.

The new technology brought about a sea change in acceptability of public transport. She selected the colour of green for non-AC and red for AC public transport buses for DTC. Today these are standardised public bus transport colours for Delhi. The introduction of CNG for all forms of transport required the development of a massive infrastructure for CNG outlets for buses, cars, autos by way of CNG filling stations, parking places for vehicles waiting to get filled. She was generous in allotting land for the purpose to Indraprastha Gas Limited which was a joint venture of Government of Delhi and Gas Authority of India.

Water has always been a tricky issue and her visionary leadership enabled the construction of Sonia Vihar treatment plant which brought water from Ganga canal to East Delhi. The improvement of treatment capacity and reduction in losses due to leakages, including the emphasis on metering of water supply, brought about substantial improvements in the water distribution system in Delhi. However, there is a need to augment water supply from other sources also to meet the growing water needs of the capital city. She supported the research project of Renuka Dam to ensure future water availability for Delhi.

The infrastructure of Delhi underwent a rapid transformation during her leadership. From roads, bridges, flyovers to the Metro, connectivity improved dramatically. East Delhi’s development was rapid with improved connectivity.

The Commonwealth Games held in 2010 enabled many bold decisions and the speed of building was rapid. She used to say that we need to learn from Delhi Metro about how to ensure timely completion of projects. The Barapullah (now Banda Bahadur flyover) road was constructed in a record time of eighteen months which would normally take five years to complete.

At the planning stage, the Railways and Archaeological Survey were opposed to it, as it would cross Nizamuddin railway station and was too close to Humayun’s tomb. But Shiela Dikshit was able to convince the central ministers to remove the objections of the departments and the work could go on to complete the project. She personally inspected the project many times to review its progress. Today it is an important lifeline of connectivity for Delhi.

Among the other important infrastructure projects started during her tenure were the Signature Bridge which is now an iconic structure of Delhi. The Delhi Haat is a must visit area for buying ethnic items. It is so popular that another one was constructed in Pitampura. The Garden of Five Senses has become another landmark place. When Vikas Bhawan 2 was constructed, I remember informing her that unlike the Delhi Secretariat, which was also constructed during her tenure as an iconic building, Vikas Bhawan 2 had air conditioning provision only for officers. She insisted that all the staff must have same facilities even if it costs more.

I had to inform the PWD to change the plans and have a fully air conditioned office building.

Among the most significant bold decision taken by her was the privatisation of the power sector in Delhi. It was controversial, but necessary because the lack of infrastructure for power and enormous losses of Delhi Vidyut Board and the growing demand for power, made it necessary to do a major surgery.

Today power availability has substantially improved, and competition has enabled the sector to become self-sustaining. There are improvements to be made and this needs constant review.

Just before opening of Commonwealth Games, some of the foreign team managers had started complaining about lack of complete infrastructure and pointed to negative press reports. Sheila Dikshit went to the Games Village and had a discussion with the delegates. Her smiling nature and pleasant personality was enough to convince them to stop complaining and they felt reassured about the seriousness of the administration to complete the work on time. Any apprehension that there would be calls for boycott of the Games was removed.

She started the hugely successful campaign involving children for a cracker free Diwali in Delhi as well a Green and Clean Delhi campaign.

Planting saplings and giving saplings as gifts in official functions and school meetings was a huge success and created an enormous impact and awareness about environment protection.

The Stree Shakti campaign to check women’s health and childrens’ health in camps held in entire Delhi from time to time, showed that she was sensitive to the needs of people of all sections. She had an open house and every day she would listen to scores of people at her official residence.

Improving governance was her mantra. After the Telgi stamp paper scam, it became necessary to make changes to the system. Electronic stamp paper was introduced in Delhi to ensure that no scam can be repeated. It involved setting up the E-stamping infrastructure in coordination with Stock Holding Corporation of India. Today it is a well-established system.

Computer education was started in schools to ensure that the digital divide does not put Delhi’s government school children at a disadvantage. She ensured that Delhi pulsated with art and culture. She instituted the Delhi Kala Academy Awards for Outstanding Artists and every year cultural programs including the publicly appreciated music recitals at Nehru Gardens were immensely popular.

I used to meet her once a week as MCD commissioner and inform her of my problems. Every time I brought to her notice any financial problem, she would instruct the officers to sort it out. I told her about the growing garbage problem in Delhi. On her next visit to the United Nations, she asked UNOPS to conduct a study of the garbage problem and they appointed a Dutch and Indian consultant to study and give a report. Many initiatives on Waste to Energy, Mechanisation of garbage handling and creating new engineered landfills in Delhi are a result of the report submitted by the consultants. Such was her deep understanding of the issues and problems facing Delhi.

During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi underwent a complete transformation in infrastructure, environment awareness, garbage management, education, health, and e-governance.

She took bold decisions and never took a U-Turn once a decision was taken. She toured Delhi relentlessly, met the people, heard their grievances, listened to elected representatives. She called bureaucrats for meetings and heard them and gave decisions which each one implemented, being sure that there will be no going back once a decision was taken. She had leadership, compassion, wisdom, and a steely resolve behind a smiling visage. She knew the measures needed by Delhi to move the metropolis forward. She was fully conversant with the constitutional position of Delhi and could convince the leadership at the Centre and also lead from the front in Delhi.

It was a pleasure to have worked with her and Delhi will remember her warm personality.

(The author is former Chief Secretary, Delhi)