NEW DELHI, April 7: ``It feels like I have been here for years, though it has only been four months,'' Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said in the Delhi Assembly today. In a spirited reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the Lieutenant Governor's address, she emphasised that her government stood for development with justice and transparency, and a better life.Talking about the achievements of the much maligned Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), she said: ``The Delhi Vidyut Board's collection has gone up to Rs 245 crore this month, which is the highest ever. When it becomes Rs 270 crore, there will be no power scarcity and no rise in prices during this summer.''
Dikshit also said that maintenance squads had been formed to ensure that power cuts did not last for more than two to three hours. Lambasting the Opposition BJP for accusing the Congress for inaction during the last four months, she said: ``I am not going to be flayed for petty things, that we had done that, you are doing this. Catch us when we are wrong, guide us but don't say we have not done anything because we have.''
Power: ``There is nothing in Delhi without power, there is no industry and no commerce and no growth,'' she said.
``In five years, the situation of power has become such that there is 45 per cent theft and 60 percent transmission and distribution losses,'' she said, adding: ``We have a strategy paper on power and we are committed to implementing it.''
Slums: ``I will also make sure that no one lives in slums. We cannot politicise the matter. It is a shame that in the Yamuna Phusta fire 29 people lost their lives. I will make sure that when someone comes to Delhi, they do not have to live in sub-human conditions in the slums,'' she said.CORRUPTION: ``There is a lot of corruption, it takes weeks for just a file to move from one place to another. But the Delhi government now has a website so that anyone wanting anything in Delhi can just a press a button and get it. Information technology is the real power and every Delhiite will have information on their fingertips,'' she said.
Land: ``There is multiplicity of authorities, as the Lt Governor said. We have announced a Low Cost Housing Corporation but we do not have land, and we will have to manage the land. We will not ask for land or law and order for political reasons but for these reasons''.
Social Welfare: ``The objective of our government is social justice. In this session, we have discovered corruption in the Social Welfare Department which is shameful. It is the most important department of my government. We will set it right but we only need a little time.''
Water: ``We have different political ideologies but I would want the cooperation of the Opposition on issues like getting water from Haryana. I myself would like to cooperate with the Haryana government on water and I hope to solve the problem soon,'' she said.
Problems: ``We inherited two kinds of problems from BJP. First, the problems due to influx of population. We are going to activate the National Capital Region idea because if Delhi is to be decongested, then people have to be dissuaded from coming into Delhi by making the NCR equally attractive.'' Secondly, we inherited a very, very, very bad governance. In fact, there was just no governance at all. No law and order, power, water, civic amenities.''
Onion: ``What more is there to say about the BJP's handling of the onion crisis than that one of its own advisors quit, flaying the total mismanagement of the situation by the BJP. So this has nothing to do with a good harvest as has been said, nothing to do with anyone outside.''
Manifesto: ``When we made our manifesto or the Lt Governor made his speech, it was only an indication of the things to come. In four months I can't implement the manifesto and I am also not going to do it in a hurry, I will not be rushed into it''.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.