National
Kejriwal takes charge of water portfolio, gets to work (Lead)
New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Over 30 months after he became the Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal on Monday took charge of Delhi’s water and sewerage management system – and immediately issued instructions to overcome the capital’s nagging water woes.
But the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) denied that this was a signal that Kejriwal would now focus more on Delhi and travel less outside to promote the party.
After winning the Delhi Assembly elections in February 2015, Kejriwal had declared he would not keep any portfolio with him but monitor everyone’s work for overall better governance.
With Monday’s U-turn, Kejriwal will now head the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which is responsible for supplying potable water to millions in the capital.
The water department was until now with Rajendra Pal Gautam, who still holds the departments of social welfare, Gurudwara elections and cooperatives.
Gautam got the water portfolio three months ago after Kejriwal sacked minister Kapil Mishra, who has turned a vocal dissident.
When he became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2013-14, albeit only for 49 days, Kejriwal had five departments with him including Power, Finance, Planning, Vigilance and Home.
But in 2015, he allocated all the departments to the other six ministers, the bulk of them to his long-time confidant and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
This helped Kejriwal to travel a lot outside Delhi as he tried to build the AAP, frequently targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj explained why Kejriwal had reversed his 2015 decision.
“Government and governance are dynamic things. When situation changes, you change your decisions accordingly,” Bharadwaj told IANS.
Asked if this meant Kejriwal would spend more time now in Delhi, he said: “You cannot draw parallels between the number of portfolios and the time a persons spends in his state… Even Modi has so many portfolios. Still he spends a lot of time abroad.”
A Delhi Government official told IANS that Kejriwal decided to take charge of the water portfolio because of the importance of water in people’s day-to-day lives “and the government is committed to provide uninterrupted and good quality water supply to people”.
Kejriwal’s stepping in would expedite the process of providing piped water supply to more and more areas in Delhi, the official said.
After taking charge, Kejriwal convened a meeting of DJB officers and sought a report on the timing and duration of water supply in every colony and problems faced including water contamination.
He said vacant posts in DJB should be filled up by promoting officers and vacancies at lower level be filled up on contract basis till regular appointments were done.
Kejriwal also asked for a deadline by which the DJB would be able to map colonies without tap water and the deadline for laying the pipelines.
He called for early buying of sewer cleaning machines to clean up the city’s choked drains.
Monday’s decision comes exactly a week after the AAP won a critical by-election to the Delhi Assembly from Bawana, taking its strength in the 70-member Assembly to 66.
It was a morale boosting win for a party which suffered a defeat in the Punjab Assembly election, a rout in Goa, lost one Assembly by-election in Delhi and failed to take control of the capital’s municipal corporation.
–IANS
am/mr/vd
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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