Delhi LG VK Saxena‘s BIG action - transfers IAS officer for THIS reason

New Delhi: Delhi LG VK Saxena has transferred the Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) CEO K Mahesh, shunting him to Union Territory Civil Services (UTCS) as Special Director after night shelters were found overcrowded and deficient in toilet facilities. The development comes following LG`s visit to night shelters run by DUSIB at Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) and Hanuman Mandir, on the night of December 23 where it was found that, while all the shelters at the location had a total capacity of only about 600 beds, there were thousands who were forced to sleep on the pavements in the bitter cold.

Moreover, the LG during his visit had also flagged the issue of inhumane sanitary conditions for the occupants and for other homeless, forced to reside on streets under the open sky.

Due to the severe lack of toilet facilities attached to the Night Shelters, the occupants and others were forced to defecate in the open, mostly on the adjacent Yamuna Bank. Apart from polluting the river, this also posed severe health hazards to already marginalized people forced to live on the streets.

Besides this, there were no enclosures or facilities for the people to have a bath before going every day to earn their livelihoods.

Notably, it is the responsibility of DUSIB to provide toilets and other sanitary facilities at such locations. K. Mahesh, who has been CEO (DUSIB) since May 31 had been tasked in the month of June 2022 with the responsibility of providing adequate temporary toilet facilities to the slum dwellers at Jailorwala Bagh, adjacent to the DDA land where the ambitious world-class nursery project - Vaishnavi, is being developed as per directions of the LG, immediately after he took over.

However, despite the passage of almost six months, DUSIB had failed to provide such facilities, that apart from causing immense hardship to the slum dwellers, also resulted in the nursery project not moving as per schedule. 

The residents of the neighbouring slum cluster, in the absence of toilets, are forced to defecate in the open on the nearby Railway track or on the land, where the nursery is being developed. Consistent dereliction of duties by Mahesh, despite clear directions from the LG, had resulted in the prestigious nursery project getting delayed by over 03 months.

Even as Garima Gupta, Secretary (Social Welfare) was given charge of DUSIB, further action is contemplated against Mahesh.