The Hindu : New Delhi News : Arti Mehra back as Delhi Mayor for second term

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Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
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Arti Mehra back as Delhi Mayor for second term

Staff Reporter

Divya Jaiswal re-elected Deputy Mayor

NEW DELHI: Arti Mehra and Divya Jaiswal of the Bharatiya Janata Party were re-elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Delhi respectively at a special meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi House on Monday.

While Ms. Mehra garnered 177 of the 261 votes cast, her nearest opponent Razia Sultana of the Congress netted 82. Mr. Jaiswal secured 165 of the 235 votes, while his nearest rival Tulsi Ram Sablania of the Congress polled 68.

Also unanimously elected to their positions in the MCD Standing Committee were Vijender Gupta and Rajni Abbi of the BJP and J. K. Sharma of the Congress.

Addressing the gathering after her election for a second consecutive term, Ms. Mehra said the civic body was an important organisation that had the best interests of the public at heart. “Before I assumed charge last year, I had promised to make Delhi cleaner, healthier and literate. I had also pledged to provide medical facilities and primary education to people from the weaker sections of society. Though we have succeeded in our mission, much remains to be done,” she added.

Highlighting the achievements of the civic body this past year, Ms. Mehra said soon the MCD would be known as the “digital” Municipal Corporation as computerisation of most departments had been completed. “Our website is functional and an information system has been set up for the Engineering Department. Laptops have been distributed to Junior Engineers and a Hospital Information System has been started in all the six major hospitals under the civic body,” she informed.

The Mayor, however, said the most important achievement of the MCD had been construction of the Civic Centre where the civic body’s headquarters would soon be shifted.

“Another important decision was that of sanctioning building plans online. This has brought transparency to the process and curbed harassment,” she added.

Ms. Mehra appraised the gathering of the process of de-silting of drains and expressed satisfaction at the rate of the works in progress.

Future projects would include setting up of a “Mahila Haat” next year, construction of 10 toilet blocks exclusively for women and beautifying the entry points to Delhi.

Moreover, 24 parks had been identified below which multi-level car parking sites would be constructed. The expenditure on this scheme would be made available from the Special ESCROW account, the Mayor added.

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