Expedite Delhi Master Plan preparation, CM urges L-G

Delhi Master Plan: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday urged Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to hasten the “delayed” Master Plan 2041 to meet the city’s growing needs.

Speaking after launching works under Gramodaya Abhiyan, Gupta said that the new Delhi Master Plan should be such that it not only presents solutions to the existing developmental issues, but also benefits the upcoming generations for the next 100 years.

The Delhi Development Authority is preparing the Master Plan, she said, “It should be out soon. The Delhi government is ready to give its approval on a blank paper for anything that serves the interests of the city’s people.”

The chief minister said that after taking charge in February, she summoned the officers concerned and enquired about the draft Master Plan, which had been under preparation for many years.

“I was at my wits end when I saw the draft,” Gupta said, adding that the officers were instructed to come up with a concrete Master Plan that served the interests of people.

Gupta lauded Lt Gov Saxena for his efforts behind various projects under the Gramodaya Abhiyan, aimed at developing the national capital’s rural areas.

“If the country is to be developed, mere developing of the city and the Lutyens’ zone will not suffice. Development of villages is also necessary,” she added.

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Delhi Police nabs man posing as IAS officer for pan-India fraud

A man, posing as an IAS officer, was arrested for allegedly duping several vendors of more than Rs 2 crore across the country under the guise of the Centre’s Rashtriya Gramin Saksharta Mission (RGSM) scheme, police said on Monday. The accused, identified as Saurabh Singh, an office bearer of the fake trust, was arrested from Lucknow on September 15 following sustained surveillance and raids in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. His associates — Ratnakar alias Karunakar Upadhyay and Anita Upadhyay — were arrested in July.

“According to investigators, the accused created a trust and a website resembling a government scheme, published fake tenders and even used forged letterheads claiming RGSM to be ‘a Government of India undertaking’,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Amrutha Guguloth said in an official statement.