Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia gets additional charge of PWD ministry

The decision to hand over the department to Sisodia was approved by lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal in consultation with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been allocated the public works department (PWD) portfolio, in addition to 10 other departments that he already handling, the Delhi government said on Wednesday.

Sisodia is already in charge of education, finance, planning, land and building, vigilance, services, tourism, arts, culture and language, labour, and employment. (ANI)

For about seven years, Satyendar Jain, who is also Delhi’s health minister, had been heading the PWD. The decision to hand over the department to Sisodia was approved by lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal in consultation with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

According to the government order, Sisodia is already in charge of education, finance, planning, land and building, vigilance, services, tourism, art, culture and language, labour, and employment. The order further mentioned that Jain will be handling health, industries, power, home, urban development, irrigation, and flood control and water.

Minister Gopal Rai is handling development, general administration, and environment, forest and wildlife.

Portfolios of Kailash Gahlot include revenue, transport, IT, law, and administrative reforms, while those of Rajendra Pal Gautam include social welfare, SC/ST, women and children, among others.

The infrastructure arm of the Delhi government, the PWD carries out planning, construction and maintenance of major government infrastructure assets. It had a revised budget allocation of ₹4331 crore in 2021-22 budget.

A PWD official said the department is primarily responsible for construction of hospitals, schools, colleges and courts, besides managing road assets such as bridges, flyovers, subways and foot over bridges (FOBs). The agency is also responsible for maintenance of roads that are more than 60 feet wide, while the smaller inner colony roads are managed by the urban local bodies.

Lately, the department has been executing several flagship schemes of the Delhi government, including CCTV camera installation, free Wi-Fi scheme, the National flag project and construction of physical infrastructure for mohalla clinics and additional classrooms ​in government schools.

Organisationally, the department is divided into seven zones headed by the engineer-in-chief working under PWD secretary, who reports to the PWD minister.

Currently, the department is undertaking several large-scale transportation infrastructure projects, which have seen delays and cost escalations. They include the Ashram underpass and Ashram-DND Flyway extension, Pragati Maidan Integrated Corridor (a 1.2km long tunnel connecting Mathura road and six underpasses), the RTR underpass connecting San Martin Marg and Benito Juarez Road on the Outer Ring Road near South Campus, two half underpasses on Outer Ring Road between Wazirabad and Burari, and Barapullah Phase 3.

Several other transit corridor improvement projects are in the planning stage, said officials. According to the Pwd, it has completed 21 flyovers, one subway and seven bridges in the city in the past seven years.