New Governor wants ‘people power’

0
385

Badnore promises to be accessible to Chandigarh residents

Chandigarh: New Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore has invited people of the city to be a part of the Administration. In his first interaction with mediapersons after an introductory meeting with officers at the UT Secretariat today, Badnore stressed the need for a participatory Administration with ideas flowing freely from all directions.

He said he would be accessible to the residents.

On his vision for the city, the Administrator said he wanted Chandigarh to be “not just smart but the smartest city”.

While making it clear that the concept of Le Corbusier will remain intact, he favoured development with a human touch.

“Happiness is not just about better roads, buildings or smooth traffic, but something much deeper. It’s about caring for the needy and that is why my focus will be on the physically challenged, senior citizens and schools for the visually impaired,” Badnore said.

He asked officers to follow the best practices of cities such as Bristol in the UK or Copenhagen in Denmark for improvement in environment and making the city green.

He said the city should assess the total carbon footprint and make an action plan to reduce it as done by certain developed cities in the world. He said Chandigarh should strive to be a “zero carbon city”.

He said there was need for developing a “volunteer culture”. “There are many retired generals, academics and other experts in the city. We need to utilise their services as volunteers for the development of the city. I want people to come forward,” he said.

The Administrator asked the Inspector General of Police to provide training to eligible people in weapons so that they can get jobs in security agencies.

He  gave directions to the police to register FIRs in all cases brought by city residents.

Parimal Rai, Adviser to the  Administrator, announced that suggestion boxes would be placed at the Secretariat and Sampark centres soon. He said the Administration would start a website specially for the purpose to providing suggestions.