Will work as city’s local guardian: Newly appointed Delhi L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena

“Today, I took oath as the L-G of Delhi and I want to tell every resident that I will work as their local guardian… Delhi has some inherent problems and pollution is at the top – be it water, air or noise pollution. We will work together with the Centre, state and local public to address these issues.”

The L-G also recited a poem on communal harmony: “Aapas mai lade saath mai khoon bhi bhaye, jo kuch bhi hua hai use achcha hai bhula do, Hindu hai na Muslim hai na Sikh Isayi Shada hai vatan par duniya ko dikha do. Aapas mai laden khoon bhi bahaya hai bahut par jo kuch bhi hua hai yahan hai par achcha hai bhula do. Mil jhul ke yahan par bhala kya nahi ho sakta bakhoobi, Awaaz mai har shakshi ki awaaz mai.”

“I have seen in Delhi for some time that there have been many riots. And I want to tell everyone that we should work together as brothers… This is what I hope… I will try to work together with everyone to make Delhi into a beautiful city – a city of joy and flowers,” added Saxena.

Speaking to the media, he said he will also work on the unorganised sector and provide training to unskilled labourers. “A major part of Delhi’s working sector is unorganised with labourers coming from very poor financial backgrounds… and involved in work like construction, plumbing, carpentry etc… To help and empower these workers, we will plan on providing them with training, equipment and tools.
‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas’ will be our motive and with this mantra, we will work towards the development of Delhi.”

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal; Delhi Cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Imran Hussain; Northeast Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma and New Delhi MP and Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi; Minister of Rural Development Giriraj Singh as well as senior bureaucrats and officials. Fashion designer Ritu Behri, who was advisor to KVIC, was also present.

Kejriwal said, “I assure that the Delhi government will provide full support to the new L-G. We have done several good developmental works together with his predecessor, Anil Baijal, and hope to continue the same with Saxena ji. We are looking forward to it.”

Saxena completed his graduation from Kanpur University. According to his profile on the KVIC website, he also has a pilot’s licence and is a “philanthropist in vision and corporate scientist in action”.

He worked with JK Group as an assistant manager for 11 years and was promoted as the General Manager to look after the proposed Port Project in Gujarat.

He was appointed as the chairman of KVIC in October 2015. Over the last seven years, he has worked on schemes and products such as ‘Honey Mission’, ‘Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana’, ‘Leather Artisans’ Empowerment’, Khadi Prakritik Paint, Project RE-HAB, Khadi Fabric Footwear and Plastic-mixed handmade paper.

Before Saxena, IAS officer Anil Baijal served as the L-G of Delhi for more than six years from December 2016 to May 18.