Walking into the waiting room and then her office, the pleasant fragrance of flowers greets visitors as there are scores of bouquets lined up.
After the initial introduction and greetings, we settled down to interview her, for which she had gracefully agreed despite her busy schedule. On being asked how it feels to have won against arguably the most popular candidate in Delhi, both in the eyes of people and the media. Her response was both humble and confident; she said that no doubt she was up against a good person, but within a few days she noticed that there were so many complaints over lack of development and total neglect so far as sewage and water supply were concerned. She said, “In my Ward 173, I was more popular due to my work of the past eight years; even CR Park voted for development and not just for a popular person. After all, people were fed up with the mismanagement by the party on all development fronts and AAP’s overdependence on lower strata of society, ignoring basic governance issues.”
On being asked about her role as MLA, will her focus shift towards policy? She said, “No, I am now a councillor in three wards instead of one; my workload will increase manifold as I will have to focus on three wards, and people expect that from me.”
GK Residents want your intervention on Policy as well, many challenges have cropped up over time and the changed sociological conditions need to be addressed through Policy……. Like usage of parks, gated vs. open access colonies for security, tree pruning, pollution, usage of public utility land, etc. On park usage, she said a policy already exists; there cannot be commercial use; for RWA community functions, there are no restrictions. The problem crops up when opposing groups make complaints against each other. On being told that there have been instances of discretion/bias, she cut mid-sentence, stating it is opposing factions that are to be blamed; the policy is clear: if RWA wants to put up commercial stalls, there are designated parks with a duly laid-out procedure and fees; follow the rules, and there shall be no problem.
On tree pruning, she totally agrees that a policy keeping the city conditions needs to be worked out; she has even raised this issue in her maiden speech in the Vidhan Sabha to form pruning rules for trees in a park, street, and forest differently.
Security is a new challenge, and on being told that each police station is operating at 50% staff and the center has to be apprised of the grave situation. She said she will be looking into the matter, but she agreed that a policy needs to be framed for better security in open access colonies and the installation & operation of entry/exit gates. People’s mindsets will also need to change, as converting open access to gated would entail longer detours but can be done if professionally handled.
On pollution, she agreed with the public perception that the present GRAP guidelines have not been very effective; they have only hampered small residential construction, which has shown little or no impact, as the GRAP 4 activities are the real polluters. Regarding the 400 Bed Hos, she cut in mid-sentence or, for that matter, the Mahavir Mandir or the Club Issue, saying she has stood by GKRA and has even raised the issue in MCD House and is willing to assist in whatever way GKRA wants, be that arranging meetings or any guidance. Though there were many more questions on the list and almost an hour had elapsed, on the question of encroachments, she said she is serious about this issue and will pursue this policy at the appropriate forum. We thanked her for her time and forthright answers.
