'Under Constant Media Glare'

The transcript of BBC Hindi special programme Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath withChief Minister of Delhi

Nagendar Sharma : Mrs Sheila Dikshit, you hold the record of being thelongest-serving chief minister of the Indian capital so far, do you think you havemade substantial progress in making Delhi modern and secure for common people?

Sheila Dikshit : Well, we have made good progress in our modernisation drive. Iam not saying we have achieved great success, but we have moved forward in theright direction at a reasonable speed, and our government has more than threeyears of its present tenure left, which is considerable time to do what we havepromised. On law and order, I do not deny that incidents of crime takeplace in the national capital. It is mainly due to the migrant population, thatsuch incidents take place. Delhi is always under media scrutiny, you have tensof TV news channels and a single incident is flashed across news channelsthroughout the day and on front pages of newspapers. The impact of the incidentgets multiplied manifold. I am not using it as an excuse: yes problems arethere, but these are magnified as well.

Listener from Delhi : Madam, there is acute shortage of water in thecapital, and now your government is planning to privatise it. Would that helpmatters and the second major problem according to me is the traffic chaos. Doboth these problems come anywhere in your priority list?

Sheila Dikshit : Let me make it absolutely clear that there would be noprivatisation of water. Yes, we want to improve the water distribution system.We want the water supply to reach residents at reasonable rates. This does notat all mean that water rates would be hiked. I want to be very clear that thereis no move to privatise water.

Nagendar Sharma : If there is no move to privatise water, then what is the status ofthe agreement between the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the World Bank? Prominent environmentalists recently protested against this...

Sheila Dikshit : There is no agreement with the World Bank by which waterwould be privatised in Delhi. The Delhi government, in consultation with theCentre, had asked the World Bank to conduct a study on how to modernise watersupply in the capital. New colonies are coming up at great speed; because of the burdenof consistently increasing population -- and people need houses to stay.On the other hand, Delhi is an old city as well, leakages in water supply result inhuge losses, leading to shortage. Also, we have seen that the distribution iserratic, in some areas per person supply is 500 litres, whereas in someothers it is less than 32 litres per person. To remove such anomalies, we askedthe World Bank to prepare a report. Where does it mean that we are going toprivatise water in the capital?! 

Listener from Delhi : But then how has this  impression been created that water is going to beprivatised?

Sheila Dikshit : Since the Right to Information Act has been implemented inDelhi, people have a right to access all the information. After accessinginformation, they reach their own conclusions and draw their own impressions.In a week or ten days' time, we have called meetings with all those concernedwith this issue, including the NGOs. We are going to explain the entire issue,listen to their concerns, and inform them about the reality.

Listener from Lucknow : There is a regular slanging match between Delhiand Uttar Pradesh governments over water supposed to be given for Sonia Vihar plant. What is its present status?

Sheila Dikshit : First, the UP government told us that without a treatmentplant at Sonia Vihar it would not be possible for them to release water. Thetreatment plant was ready in time, and now instead of releasing 300 cusecs ofwater, the UP government is indulging in politics. But people of Delhi wouldfight for their rights, and I am going to take the matter at every forum. Iwould directly speak to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadavji andalso seek Centre’s help in the matter. We feel that once a commitment is madeit should be honoured.

Listener from Bihar : I do not live in Delhi, but everyday read and seeabout the rapidly increasing rape cases in the capital. Why is your governmentnot doing anything ?

Sheila Dikshit : Well, the capital is under constant media glare. Even a singleincident is shown many times on TV screens and across front pages of newspapers,increasing its impact manifold. But I am not offering any excuses -- it is a factthat Delhi is perhaps the only state in the country which does not have controlover law and order in its territory. We have made many suggestions to the Centre.We have suggested that patrolling of police women should be increased. On Delhigovernment's part, we have launched Operation Raksha, in which we have trainedmore than one lakh female volunteers for their own safety.

Nagendar Sharma : But Mrs Dikshit, you have been the chief minister for almost sevenyears now. When the NDA was in power at the Centre, you had said it was nottransferring Delhi police to the state government for political reasons. But nowyou have a Congress-led government at the Centre for more than a year. What doyou have to say now?

Sheila Dikshit : We are aware of our responsibilities, and I have myself leda delegation to the union Home Minister to apprise him of the demand that policeshould be under state government control. It is a part of the promise made inthe Congress election manifesto, and the people of the state want the electedgovernment to fulfil their aspirations. I think in the coming days, we wouldmake concrete progress in this regard.

Nagendar Sharma : But none of six Congress MPs from the capital have even spoken onceon the issue in Parliament.

Sheila Dikshit : Well, as I have said, this issue was mentioned in theCongress election manifesto during 2003 assembly elections. We are committed toensure the safety of citizens of the capital. The voters of Delhi have reposedtremendous faith in our party during the last assembly elections and in LokSabha elections also, both of which were held within a gap of six months. Youare right that I had led many delegations during the previous NDA government’stime to the Prime Minister and Home Minister demanding that police should beunder the control of state government. I am continuing the efforts now also. Iappeal for patience and we should soon see some positive results.

Listener from New York : The domestic waste in Delhi is less than otherworld cities, but we see heaps of garbage in our capital and nowhere else in theworld. Why ?

Sheila Dikshit : My brother, I think you have not been to Delhi since manyyears. Heaps of garbage is a thing of the past now. I am not saying that I amsatisfied with the level of cleanliness in Delhi, but a lot of efforts incooperation with the residents have been made in recent years, and soon youwould not have this complaint.

Listener from New York : But my complaint about chaotic traffic andfrequent traffic jams remains...

Sheila Dikshit : We have come a long way in solving the traffic problemsof the capital. From days of long halts at red lights and traffic jams, today youhave a world class Metro operating in the city, which is going to be expanded tocover the entire city by 2009. Flyovers have reduced waiting time on the roads.We are working on further plans to ensure a smooth flow of traffic. Also youtell me which metropolis is there in the world where there are no traffic jams?

Listener from Delhi : Madam, you are absolutely right that the Metro isworld-class. But why can’t we in Delhi introduce a congestion charge like someof the western cities, for those who want to travel in their private vehicles tothe heart of the city, instead of using public transport?

Sheila Dikshit : We have been told about this, and we have read about italso, but at the moment we are not thinking about any sort of charge. We feelthat more important than imposing any charge is developing traffic discipline.We are in constant consultations with the city’s police also, and their view alsois that first of all priority should be given to one-way traffic on eithersides of the roads. So first would come the traffic discipline, and then wewould consider anything else.

Nagendar Sharma : Certain Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the capital havedecided not to pay ten per cent enhanced electricity charges. What is yourreaction?

Sheila Dikshit : We have come a long way in the capital to improve the powersituation. There was a time when there were power-cuts for days. The situationhas improved tremendously. So far as the tariff issue is concerned, there is aRegulatory Commission in the capital now. It is a quasi-judicial body. Itlistened to views of everybody, including the Resident Associations, now it isfor the Regulatory Commission to take a decision on the issue.

Listener from Bhopal : Would Delhi be ready in time to host the 2010Commonwealth games ?

Sheila Dikshit : Delhi in the past proved in 1982 that it can host any event.Things have changed a lot since then. We are aware of the challenges we aregoing to face in the run-up to hosting the games. We are strictly working tomeet the deadlines, and no matter which government would be in power here atthat time, Delhi would successfully host the games. Infrastructure andfacilities would not be a problem.