Jain uses architectural skills to improve upon pending projects
NEW DELHI: Delhi PWD minister Satyendra Jain is using his skill as an architect to increase the capacity and ensure cost optimisation of pending projects.
Jain has started conducting efficiency reviews by visiting such project sites. Till now he has helped increase the capacity of the under-construction Ambedkar Nagar Hospital from 262 to 600 beds and that of an old age home to 250 from 72.
Jain has done his bachelors from Indian Institute of Architect (IIA) in 1991. “He is against cost escalation and recently a road project stuck due to non-availability of land got a go ahead after Jain visited the site and asked engineers to raise pillars on a nearby drain. This helped poor people who were afraid of land acquisition. The project will now be completed by the end of this year,” said a Delhi government official.
The PWD minister ordered a review of all projects worth over `10 crore after he found that previous governments had approved many of them without a proper study.
“It is a waste of government money if only 72 beds are made available in old age homes constructed at a cost of `10 crore. Through simple change in designs, we have increased the capacity without adding to the cost,” said Jain.
The social welfare department runs two old age homes —one in Bindapur and the other in Lampur. The third one is planned in Rohini. Even after floating a tender in 2010, the project is still in the initial phases of construction. “We are looking at the per person cost. The previous government was spending `14 lakh per person but after design change, we will achieve better results by spending only `4 lakh per person.
“Similarly at the Ambedkar Nagar hospital, we were spendin`117 crore for a 262-bed hospital. And now 338 additional beds will cost only `45 crore,” said a PWD official.
“The average cost of each bed has now been reduced to `25 lakh from `45 lakh,” he added.