April 30: Rajiv Agarwal, who took charge as the Pune Municipal Commissioner today, said he would continue the policies framed by Ramanath Jha and would ensure that the development projects launched by his illustrious predecessor were expedited.Jha who has been transferred as the chairman and managing director of the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) handed over charge to Agarwal at a function held at the commissioner's office this afternoon.Talking to mediapersons, Agarwal said that his thrust would be on strengthening of the infrastructure for providing basic civic services in the city and on achieving transparency in PMC functioning.When the media persons pointed out to him that he had a little experience as a commissioner of any municipal corporation, Agarwal said ``No doubt that I will require some time to understand the PMC functioning. But, I do not foresee much problem.''``I was the Sugar Commissioner for five years. It was also a post where a officer is required to deal with the elected members and people. The only difference is that there I had to deal with State leaders and here I will be dealing mostly with the local leaders.''Asked whether he would continue the drive against illegal constructions in the city with the same momentum like Jha, Agarwal said, ``The commissioner is dutybound to check the growth of illegal structures. I will continue the drive with the same speed.''Jha who would be taking charge of his new posting within a fortnight said that the PMC was most welcome to seek the required assistance from MMRDA. Recalling that the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) had turned down the PMC proposal seeking loan, Jha said, ``We are all functioning for betterment of urban cities and hence each institute should support the other wherever possible.``I feel sad when such things happen. The PCMC has reserved funds which it has invested in banks. Our demand was that it should invest in PMC. We were ready to repay the loan with the same interest rate as in banks.''Agarwal, 46, has a master's degree in physics from the Roorkee University, Utter Pradesh and LLB from Mumbai University. He had joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1974 and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1975. Besides, he has also undergone a special training course in `Public enterprises management' in the United Kingdom.He has worked as the assistant collector, Gondiya in Bhandara district (1977-79); chief executive officer, Beed Zilla Parishad (1980-81); Under Secretary, Ministry of Atomic Energy (1981-84); collector, Ahmednagar district (1984-86); collector, Raigad district (1986-89), managing director, Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation (1989-1992).For six months he had worked as the joint secretary of the cooperation department and had two short stints as the Municipal Commissioner of Navi Mumbai and Nashik. Since 1993 till April this year he was the State Sugar Commissioner.
