After Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satyendar Jain took a dig at the Central Government and said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government works for the public welfare despite Union Government putting spoke in its day-to-day functioning.
Jain’s reaction came after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs did not extend invitation to the Chief Minister during the inauguration ceremony of the much awaited ITO Skywalk and Foot over Bridge (FoB) on October 15.
Earlier, Kejriwal had tweeted that it does not matter whether they have been invited or not, what matters is that Delhi should be made more beautiful and people should get better facilities.
“The Delhi Government was not informed about the foundation laying ceremony of this project either and it is a fact that we have not been informed about the inauguration ceremony as well. These ceremonies, however, are not important for us, since the people of Delhi had elected their Government with a historic mandate in February 2015 with great hopes. We are answerable and accountable to the people who had reposed great faith in us,” Jain said.
The PWD Minister further issued a statement that contained the timeline of the project from the 2013-18.
He further asked the Centre and its team to continue with their inaugural event. “We will be happy in case the Central Government and its nominated representatives continue with the inauguration ceremonies and allow the elected Delhi Government to work for public welfare without hindrances,” said Jain.
Meanwhile, Jain also congratulated PWD for their work and for having successfully completed the construction and fitting/decoration work of the iconic Skywalk and Foot over Bridge (FoB) at one of Delhi’s busiest and central traffic intersection at the ITO.
“The PWD teams worked day and night to complete the first of its kind project in Delhi and successfully overcame all hurdles in the execution
of this project, which is now ready to be dedicated to the people of Delhi.”
Jain took the charges as a minister of PWD in 2015. He said a after the proposal given the then Engineer-in-chief of PWD, the department conducted a design competition for the skywalks.
“The best design (on which the Skywalk today proudly stands at ITO) was awarded cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh. In August 2016, the PWD presented the Skywalk design to the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), which was impressed by the design and it not only approved but also offered to provide 80 per cent funding for the project under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which is now known as AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation),” Jain added.
As per the funding agreement, the Delhi Government was to provide around Rs 12 crore fund for the project out of the total estimated cost of around Rs 54 crore.
Jain said, the department faced many ups and down while passing the project. “I have placed all these facts in public domain to put on record the efforts of the Delhi PWD team over several years in conceptualising this idea, coming out with a unique design, preparing a wonderful Detailed Project report (DPR) and finally having executed the construction and beautification work of this project which is now ready to be showcased as a tourist destination,” added Jain.