‘Upright, risk-taker, calm’: Days after ex-chief secy Rakesh Mehta’s death, colleagues remember him fondly

BJP MLA and Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, who was appointed as a member of the MCD’s 18-member standing committee during Mehta’s tenure — as the leader of opposition — says he closely interacted and worked with him between May 2002 and November 2005.

“He was one of the most dynamic MCD commissioners … the conviction with which he worked, the changes he brought to MCD. He played a key role in the establishment of the MCD Civic Centre. The land where it is built, was encroached. He ensured that was removed and the plan for the building took off, with him helming its execution. He ensured that the centre was sustainable, where it was generating revenue for MCD while also being an asset,” says Gupta.

“He also had a reputation as an upright officer and carried a lot of weight in courts. He was seen as a responsible officer. He would also come forward if an officer was hesitant to sign a file, and say: ‘Lao, mujhe do, main sign kar dunga (Give it to me, I will sign it).”

“He was extremely soft-spoken and patient,” adds Gupta.

Mehta also played a significant role in shutting down the Idgah slaughterhouse, and ensuring that the Ghazipur slaughterhouse was up and running, as per directions issued by the Supreme Court.

BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely, who served in Dixit’s Cabinet from 2003 to 2013, including in the Transport department when Mehta was the Delhi Transport Corporation chairman,  remembers him as a “fine officer, very innovative, open to new ideas”. He says Mehta was always a step ahead, attempting digitisation in governance in the earlier years of the third millennium.

“When he was chief secretary, he was responsible for converting DTC buses into CNG ones pursuant to court orders. It was around a 5,000-bus fleet back then, which would otherwise run on diesel,” Lovely says, adding: “Mehta also introduced low-floor buses to Delhi’s fleet.”

For retired IAS officer Ramesh Negi, who worked with Mehta while the latter was the MCD commissioner as well as the principal secretary, recalls that what stood out was how “hands-on”, “field-oriented”, “risk-taker” Mehta was. Mehta’s initiatives and measures brought in a framework of efficiency, providing citizens with better services while also cutting down on wasteful spending, Negi adds.

“Normally you’ve bureaucrats who are cautious and traditional in their methods. He was visionary, always experimenting with new ideas. His ability to take risks was how he brought so many reforms,” says Negi.

Negi, who was the MCD additional commissioner when Mehta was the commissioner, remembers that Mehta brought in IT service providers in the civic body’s citizen centres for facilitating records such as birth and death certificates, and property tax records. “Bringing in private IT services helped cut the bureaucratic rigamarole, and made it smoother for the public to access these services with a deadline,” says Negi.

Mehta also played a pivotal role in introducing the unit area method for calculating property tax and in privatisation of transport of solid waste.

“We also saw privatisation of DTC depots, 60 of them, during Mehta’s tenure … over time we reduced government expenditure by 40%,” Negi adds.

Congress’s Haroon Yusuf, who held charge of the Power department in Dixit’s Cabinet from 2003 to 2008, recalls Mehta’s “proactive role” in laying the groundwork when electricity distribution was privatised in the Capital.

“Instead of asking juniors to prepare notes, he would prepare the whole Cabinet note himself. He never lost his calm,” he reminisces.

Mehta was found dead at his residence in Noida, police said. According to officers, a purported suicide note was also found, where he mentioned “prolonged illness” as the reason behind the extreme step.