GOING THE EXTRA MILE FOR GURGAON I

Vinay Pratap Singh, who is one of the youngest deputy commissioners in Haryana, says his travel experiences help him in his role as a bureaucrat

t’s not about the age,” says Vinay Pratap Singh, IAS officer from Faridabad, who took charge as deputy commissioner (DC) of Gurgaon last week. It has been quite a journey for the 29-year-old ever since he took charge — meeting and greeting people, hearing their grievances. He shares, “Fortunately, the experience of working in the city as additional DC of Gurgaon for the past few years has helped me. Otherwise, it can become difficult initially for somebody coming from outside to understand the issues and then start responding to them.”

Singh, who is a travel enthusiast, shares that he uses his experience to understand various models, that can be replicated in the city. “When I travel, working as an administrator is always there in the backdrop. So one always sees both good and bad of places you visit. Being inquisitive, you understand how things go bad or good. There are some good cities that have utilised the space under the flyovers. Some have utilised energies of their civil society groups, to do good in their social and physical infrastructure,” says the graduate from the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) in Pilani, Rajasthan.

Citing a few examples from his visits, he adds, “Last year, I came across some good models of decentralised solid waste management at Kanchipuram, which can be replicated. Also, Gujarat has a good model of cooperative working, we can emulate [that] in the field of social selfhelp groups. Some places have developed ecological parks. So, there’s a lot we can learn from other cities.”

About his plan of action regarding women’s safety, he says, “Since, Gurgaon has a large number of women working in corporates, and also considering the late night working hours of the BPO/IT sector — we endeavour to give priority to women’s safety. One aspect is safety within the premises of the workplace. For which, we have a local complaints committee that looks after grievance at district level. And through this office, we are [also] ensuring that the internal complaints committee is there in all offices. In the past one-and-a half-years we have done good amount of work.”

Singh adds that some vulnerable areas such as Mall Mile, corporate offices have been identified and police personnel have been deployed there. “We are working with Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) and HUDA regarding the lighting of the areas with dark alleys, so that there is no instance of eve teasing,” Singh explains.

Fortunately, the experience of working in the city (Gurgaon) for the past few years has helped me VINAY PRATAP SINGH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONERR

PHOTO: WASEEM GASHROO/HT