Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is a woman with a lot on her plate. The upcoming Commonwealth Games which Dikshit has promisedwill make the nation proud, the demolitions in the Capital which pain her personally, and of course the never ending power and water woes.
Yet, Dikshit seems to have got her balance right, though she admits that not all is well with the Capital.
The human development report has put on paper all those problems that Delhiites have forever been complaining about. Was it a huge risk to openly accept them?
The human development report is not an infrastructure or economic development report, so though we had so many good things going for us like the CNG, Metro, the green cover etc., we wanted to attend to parameters that constitute human patterns. So now we have development goals to look forward to. We as a government feel that we should concentrate on how society is developing.
I still feel that we took a very courageous step to actually come out with this report.
And even though people say that they have problems with infrastructure, safety and other amenities, it is commendable that 82% respondents refuse to leave Delhi.
Woman safety is a major issue in the Capital and crimes against women are on an all time high?
Delhi has a mish mash of various cultures and a huge migrant population. Also compared to other metros we are the only ones who have porous and open borders. Thereby controlling crime is a problem.
But even Mumbai has a huge migrant population but it is considered to be one of the safest cities for women? Only 6% respondents in the survey felt that women are safe at their workplace.
I agree but every city has its own societal make up and I feel Delhi is regressive on this front. The cultural differences are huge and as a chief minister there is nothing much that I can do to stop this. We are trying to get NGOs and also greater community involvement for women’s safety. Society also needs to make an effort and become more self-reliant. We have also had sessions wherein more than one lakh girls have been taught the art of self-defence. Also there is a huge media presence in Delhi. Thereby every incident is blown up and we get a lot of negative publicity. On our front we are making an effort by deploying police at various points in the city and increasing vigilance.
Power and water are the major problems in the city, which aims to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010?
I do not agree that power and water is a problem. The peak demand for power was 4000MW and we met it. Obviously we are managing but the biggest problem we face is that we are dependent on other states. We have also signed agreements for around 6000MW. The other problem is that of in-equal distribution within the city itself. That is the reason that we have been insisting that people move out towards the National Capital Region.
The bed-patient ratio has not changed in the past twenty years in Delhi hospitals. And the situation in the hospitals is no better?
Actually that is commendable, considering that 5 lakh people have been added and another 30% are coming in every year. Even the hospitals have a decent standard if you compare with national standards. I agree that by international standards we are lacking in basic amenities, but then Delhi has also grown as a major hub for medical tourism.
The Bhagidari project introduced by your government has won kudos internationally. Do you think the same model can be replicated in other states as well?
The Bhagidari project has shaped up extremely well. It is the voice of people wherein they are working in partnership with the government and are being successfully heard. We initiated the Right to Information Act, which has worked wonderfully amongst Delhiites. I do not think the Bhagidari initiative can be replicated.
What about the Commonwealth Games? How well prepared are we for these?
The budgets have been allocated to specific departments and mostly we know what is to be done. The reason you do not see anything on the ground is the fact that we don’t want to get ready three years ago.
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