Chief minister Sheila Dikshit and former chief justice of the Delhi high court Rajinder Sachar locked horns over the privatisation of Delhi Jal Board at a meeting on Monday. Mr Sachar, who is a patron of an organisation against the privatisation of DJB, met Ms Dikshit at her office on Monday. After the meeting, Justice Sachar told reporters that he is totally against the privatisation of water supply in the national capital.
“Privatisation of water in unconstitutional. Our constitution gives everyone a right to live and water is the most basic substance for anyone to survive. The government can not charge hefty amount for water as it is the basic right of the citizen,” he said.
He alleged that the government is following the project of Patna which cost `600 crores but it is ignoring the fact that the Bihar government has decided to built a new infrastructure, while the Delhi government is overlapping the existing infrastructure of water supply.
However, when asked, Ms Dikshit said that her government will continue with the privatisation project.
“We are inspired with the privatisation of electricity. Our aim is to provide uninterrupted water supply to everyone. Currently only three areas are under the privatisation scheme and we are looking forward to make it feasible for other areas,” she said.
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Sheila releases wallet-Book for women
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN. 28
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has released a wallet-book for women proposed by National Women Commission (NWC).
NWC chief Mamta Sharma was also present with Ms Dikshit on the occasion.
The wallet-book contains emergency numbers and some self defence tricks for women.
“The government and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) will circulate the wallet-book to the women in Delhi,” Ms Dikshit told reporters here.
Ms Sharma said the book has been released in five languages — Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi and Marathi.