Be aware, involve masses & monitor consistently: Siddharth Mahajan

Being the collector in the district with the largest population - in the country – that also happens to be the state capital is not an easy place to be in. Siddharth Mahajan speaks to Sangeeta Pranvendra about the challenges and his mantra to get things done in this district where small issues easily manage to escalate.

Q. What are the challenges of being district collector in the capital district?  

A. The capital district is different from others. Issues that take place here are more highlighted and necessitate for a DM to be well in control. It is a huge district. In fact, it’s the largest in India according to population and population density adds to its complexity. Further JDA and JMC are very big organisations and coordinating with them is also a challenge.

Q. Communal tension is on the rise? What is the reason?   

A. We are very much concerned about the rise in communal incidents. Several outskirt areas are our concern. Our priority is to deal with all communities equally. We do not allow processions to adopt new routes, seek new facilities or deviate from plan. Now we have constables deployed on rooftops and most importantly we hold meetings with organisers before every such procession. 

Dealing with communal issues has to fast and correct. For example the Achrol incident where idols were damaged around 3 in early morning. We came to know about it at around 4.00 am. Our officers, SDM, ADM and Tehsildar got a shop opened and by 6.30 in the morning we were ready with a new statue of Dr. Ambedkar. We proactively called the local people told them about the incident and also that we have fixed a new statue and are lodging an FIR. We told them we are informing you and want your cooperation.

Q. What is your mantra for dealing with situations?  

A. Be aware of issues and how they can be sorted out. The need is to keep one step ahead with advance preparation. I believe in people’s participation for solving problems. The only way is constant monitoring, constant direct touch with officers and an immediacy in dealing with problems.

Q. Fire incidents continue to plague the capital city. Do you have a solution?  

A. There is a District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) of which Collector is the chairperson. That committee is empowered to issue instructions to departments concerned for compliance. I took a meeting for SMS stadium prior to the IPL matches and told CFO to issue directions for compliance.