Vision 2047: Arvind Kejriwal launches vision to make Delhi world`s number 1 city

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday (August 3) spelt out his government's roadmap for Delhi for 2047, and invited ideas from the corporate sector and philanthropic bodies to help make it the 'number one city' in the world.

'Delhi@2047' is a platform for fostering partnerships with the private sector/CSR initiatives and philanthropic organisations to achieve the vision for Delhi by 2047. CM Kejriwal said that the government is not approaching to just write cheques; they need their ideas, expertise, participation, and partnership to realise the dreams everyone has for Delhi. 

He said that everyone needs to work together then only we can transform Delhi into the city of our dreams, where even the poorest of the poor lives with utmost respect and comfort. He talked about the government’s efforts of transforming the style of governance and making it solution oriented and said that if one has the political will to find solutions then they can not be stopped.

Delhi@2047 seeks to build a "resilient, reliant, equitable and sustainable" Delhi as a vision for 2047, the chief minister's office said. The initiative is hosted on the website of the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) of Delhi.

"We have a vision for Delhi when as a free nation we turn 100 in 2047. But that does not mean we are procrastinating. While we will continue to work in various sectors to offer better services in the next few years, we wish to offer 24-hour water supply to people, and that is something which should happen before the next elections," the chief minister said.

"We have envisioned per capita income of Delhi at par with that in Singapore. Also, we cannot be ready for the Olympic Games bid in a short period of time and it needs long-term planning. We had given a glimpse of this vision in our budget this year," he said.

He lauded the efforts made in education and health sectors, saying both sectors have been revamped in a big way, evidenced in excellent performance by its students, and the improved services at city hospitals with an added "safety ring" of mohalla clinics and other facilities.

Kejriwal also underlined the work done in the power sector, and the services sector that allows people to access a number of services at their doorstep. "But for 2047 we have planned a broad roadmap, which includes world-class infrastructure, including sporting facilities at schools to promote talent; rejuvenation of a number of water bodies, many of which had been encroached upon; and sustainable solutions that can benefit all sections of society," he said.

"We need support from you today, this is why the platform has been developed. We are not coming to you to write cheques to us, we need your ideas, your expertise and participation and we need your partnership. We need to work on this together and make Delhi the city of our dreams, so when we look at our city in 2047, we can say we are proud of Delhi," he said.

Talking about the development in the power and services sector, the Delhi CM said, "We progressed a lot in the electricity sector. I remember that we made our government in 2015 and I remember the power cuts in the summer of 2014. There would be no power for 7-8 hours a day. Today, electricity is supplied for 24 hours. We worked with the same electricity companies as the previous governments did, the difference is of political will. We stood on the ground and got the transformers, cables, and old equipment changed in front of us. We worked on this for a couple of years starting in 2015, and now Delhi gets a regular power supply for 24 hours. We worked a lot in the services sector. There are over 100 government services that you get on your doorstep. Like a pizza home delivery service, we have issued a phone number. You have to just make a call and get your service on your doorstep. Suppose you call and say you want to get your ration card made. They will ask you what time they can come to your place. They will come and make your ration card at your convenience. No need to run from pillar to post or pay an agent to get it made."

CAG report says Delhi Govt is the only government in the country that is generating profits: CM Arvind Kejriwal

"We worked a lot in the finances division and fixed them. The CAG report that came last year stated that the Delhi Government is the only state government in the country which is making a profit. Our government is not running any losses. Be it technological solutions or financial modelling, we worked on each project with complete honesty and dignity. We saved money in each project and made the government financially sustainable and accountable," the CM said, lauding the transparency of the government.

Will make Delhi's roads at par with European Standards: CM Arvind Kejriwal

"There is a lot left to be done upon which we are working. The roads of Delhi are very wide but they are not of good quality, they are not designed well. We want to make our roads at par with European standards. We have started with 500 KMs of roadworks and will work on more roads soon and eventually make all roads of Delhi at par with European standards. We want that water supplies in Delhi go on 24x7. We want that when one turns on a tap in the city they get drinking water from it like in European nations. We need to work on the transport system and fix that. Our motive is to transform our entire transport system and run it on electricity instead of fuel," he added.

Involving local communities, RWA to develop parks and gardens at a large scale: CM Arvind Kejriwal

Talking about the future plans of Delhi, the CM said, "Lakes are being developed in the city on a large scale. There were a lot of lakes here in older times that got encroached. We are now clearing the encroachments and reviving the lakes. There’s a large-scale project for making parks and gardens in the city. We are involving local communities and RWAs to develop parks and gardens. In sports, as we are aware we have started the Delhi Sports University, our aim is to involve the maximum number of population in sports and prepare athletes that can win medals at the Olympic and International competitive level. We pride upon Delhi to be the national capital but there’s also a lot of garbage that needs to be taken care of. We have to work on solid waste management. It is not rocket science, it can be done. If one issues an international tender there will be hoards of companies who would be ready to clean Delhi and in today’s day and age, even garbage sells. So maybe cleaning Delhi may not be an expensive idea but it may in fact generate revenue. We are working upon it. We need to get rid of air and water pollution. We need to clean the Yamuna.  There is a lot to be done, we can not do it alone, we need help in it. We need help from the citizens as well as the corporations."

The pandemic taught us that if we can fight COVID together then we can also together make Delhi a city we can be proud of: CM Arvind Kejriwal

"We saw it during COVID. It was such a devastating time, but Delhi is being praised because we worked on it while keeping everyone together and we got a lot of support from the corporate sector. Whoever we called and said that we need these many oxygen cylinders, I am very happy to inform you that no one denied helping us, everyone helped us. That is when we thought that if we can together fight a pandemic like COVID, then we can also fix the problems of our state together. So we need support from you today, this is why the platform has been developed. We are not coming to you to write cheques, we need your ideas, we need your expertise, we need your participation and we need your partnership. We need to work on this together and make Delhi the city of our dreams, so when we look at our city in 2047 we can say we are proud of Delhi. We have to make a Delhi of which everyone can feel proud and where even the poorest of the poor lives with utmost respect and comfort," the CM concluded.

Jasmine Shah, the Vice-Chairperson of Dialogue & Development Commission of Delhi, the host of the Delhi@2047 platform said, "Delhi saw an unprecedented scale of collaboration during the Covid-19 pandemic where all stakeholders came together. We now need to continue this spirit of collaboration even further. We are starting off the Delhi@2047 initiative with three focus projects (i) Khelo Dilli - an innovative project where we are trying to build world class playgrounds in each and every Delhi Government School. Tomorrow’s Olympians are not going to come just from 1 or 2 national stadiums across the country, each and every government school can have world class infrastructure. (ii) City of Lakes - the Delhi Government is working on a massive plan to rejuvenate more than 1,000 water bodies which traditionally existed in Delhi and recharge the groundwater tables. (iii) Bridging Digital Divide in Schools - we have seen the impact of COVID-19 on education and government school students don’t always have access to digital devices so we want to ensure that all standard 10th & 12th students who are entering their board exams have access to digital devices."

Abhimanyu Munjal, CEO, Hero Finance Corp & Chairman-Northern Region, CII said, "On behalf of CII and its members we would like to partner and participate in realising the Delhi Government’s vision of Delhi@2047. We firmly believe in the vision and the objective mapped out under this initiative."

Subhrakant Panda, MD, Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd, (IMFA) & Vice President, FICCI said, “too often we get caught up with the issues of the day and don’t give enough attention to planning for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. This excellent initiative will help propel Delhi to become one of the most livable and best governed cities of the world.”

Banmali Agrawala President – Infrastructure, Defence & Aerospace and Global Corporate Affairs, Tata Sons Private Limited said, “the way the Delhi Government has gone about the initiative instead of making it a jamboree but a focused event with discussion shows the seriousness of the government.

Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto said, "We all understand that sustainable CSR has the prerequisite of long term visibility of the direction, and providing a 25 year long roadmap gives us this kind of visibility. It will be our privilege to participate in this endeavour."