CM Kejriwal launches Delhi@2047 platform
New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday inaugurated the Delhi@2047 platform, a glimpse of which was seen in the last Budget, announcing the Delhi government will be approaching corporates, philanthropic organisations and the general public for ideas, expertise, participation and partnerships to achieve the goals of making Delhi's per capita income equitable to that of Singapore's, world-class public infrastructure and facilities good enough to bid to host the 2048 Olympics, and clean air and water to all by 2047 when Indian will finish 100 years of Independence.
The initiative will be hosted by the Delhi Development Commission. DDC Vice-Chairperson Jasmine Shah was at the launch of the platform and called for large-scale collaboration to achieve goals such as Khelo Dilli — to develop world-class playgrounds in each Delhi government school; City of Lakes — to pitch help with a massive plan to rejuvenate 1,000 water bodies in the city; and bridging the digital divide in education by making it more accessible.
At the launch, Kejriwal said he was delighted to launch this initiative, adding: "Delhi, being the national Capital, is like a gateway or a hub where people first arrive in India and then go to other places. People see India through Delhi. Delhi is a place that is a matter of pride for everyone. We have to develop Delhi as a global city."
The Chief Minister said the idea is to start working now so that the goals for 2047 can be achieved, adding that there are some problems that may take a few years to fix like 24x7 water in Delhi but there were many others that would take much more time.
"Our long-term goals include making Delhi's per capita income at par with that of Singapore and bidding for Olympics 2048. These goals need time, we cannot achieve them in one year," the Chief Minister said.
Highlighting the Delhi government's strides in the education sector, public healthcare, power sector, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government has now become the only government generating a surplus.
The Chief Minister went on to say that some of the goals include making Delhi's road network at par with that of European Standards, developing gardens and parks at a large scale, and designing world-class sold waste management systems.
"We have started with 500 kms of roadworks and will work on more roads soon and eventually make all roads of Delhi at par with European standards. We want that water supplies in Delhi go on 24x7. We want that when one turns on a tap in the city they get drinking water from it like in European nations. We need to work on the transport system and fix that. Our motive is to transform our entire transport system and run it on electricity instead of fuel," the CM said.
"Lakes are being developed in the city on a large scale. We are now clearing the encroachments and reviving the lakes. There's a large-scale project for making parks and gardens in the city. We are involving local communities and RWAs to develop parks and gardens," he added.
The Chief Minister also added that solid waste management should be a focus and innovative solutions to it may even result in revenue for the government.
"It is not rocket science, it can be done. If one issues an international tender there will be hoards of companies who would be ready to clean Delhi and in today's day and age, even garbage sells," he said, adding that cleaning the Yamuna was another goal.
He sought help from citizens and corporates alike much like they stepped up during the pandemic to help Delhi fight it so that "together, we can make Delhi a city we can be proud of".
Several corporate bigwigs were at the launch. While Abhimanyu Munjal, CEO, Hero Finance Corp & Chairman-Northern Region, CII said they would like to partner and participate, Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto said it would be a privilege to participate in this vision.
Banmali Agrawala, president, Infrastructure, Defence & Aerospace and Global Corporate Affairs, Tata Sons Private Limited said this is a serious effort to realise goals and the Delhi government's preparation showed that.
