Water, power chiefs replaced, inspections start

Hours after take charge of Delhi on Saturday, the AAP government effected a bureaucratic reshuffle and transferred the Finance Secretary, Power Secretary and CEO of the Delhi Jal Board.

DJB CEO Debashree Mukherjee has been made Chief Managing Director of the Delhi Transport Corporation. Her replacement in the DJB is Vijay Kumar.

Power Secretary R K Verma, who is also the CMD of Delhi Transco Ltd and Chairman of Pragati Power Corporation Ltd, has been shifted as Principal Secretary, Higher Education. He will also hold charge as Principal Secretary, Training and Technical Education.

The shifting of Mukherjee and Verma is significant because Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said his government will take a decision on water supply by Monday and on electricity by Tuesday or Wednesday. In the run-up to the polls, the AAP promised 700 litres of free water daily to each household and a 50 per cent cut in power tariff in the city.

Home Secretary Archana Arora has been given additional charge of Finance. Higher Education Secretary Rajendra Kumar has been made Secretary to the Chief Minister.

Transport Secretary Puneet Goel is the new Power Secretary. Arvind Ray, Principal Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Development, will hold additional charge of Transport.

Delhi Finance Secretary M M Kutty, who was also Principal Secretary to former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, has been transferred as Principal Secretary, Social Welfare and Women and Child Development.

After a Cabinet meeting, Kejriwal promised that there will be no witch-hunt against officials who work honestly and in the interest of the people.

Late Saturday evening, new Health Minister Satyendra Jain paid a surprise visit to the government-run Lok Nayak Hospital. Sources said he also had plans to drop by at the Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital and Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital.

Landing unannounced at the Lok Nayak Hospital, Jain inspected the emergency and trauma blocks, the burns, gynaecology, paediatrics and medicine wards, and some ICUs. He spent nearly an hour in the hospital, talking to patients and doctors.

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Water, power chiefs replaced, inspections start