Vinai Kumar Saxena appointed LG of Delhi

Vinai Kumar Saxena, who worked in the private sector for three decades before heading the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of the central government for six years, was named as the new lieutenant governor of Delhi on Monday.

Vinai Kumar Saxena, who worked in the private sector for three decades before heading the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of the central government for six years, was named as the new lieutenant governor of Delhi on Monday.

(ANI)

Saxena, 64, will replace former civil servant Anil Baijal, who headed Delhi’s government for five years before resigning for “personal reasons” last week at a time when the city’s elected government and the Centre are locked in a battle over delayed municipal polls and the scrapping of a flagship scheme.

“The President of India has been pleased to appoint Vinai Kumar Saxena to be the Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he assumes charge of his duties,” read a statement issued by Ajay Kumar Singh, the President’s press secretary. The official further stated that Kovind accepted Baijal’s resignation, who remained in the post for five years and four months.

Saxena, who will report to the Union home ministry, will directly oversee issues related to land, services and law and order, which come under the purview of the LG and not the Aam Aadmi Party administration. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, implemented last year, gives primacy to the LG over the elected government in the city.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to talk about Baijal and welcome Saxena. “The former L-G Anil Baijal and I worked together in Delhi on several projects and tried to solve many issues. He is a very good man. I wish him the best for the future and wish him good health and a long life. I welcome the newly appointed L-G, Vinai Kumar Saxena on behalf of the people of Delhi. He will get the full support of the cabinet for Delhi’s betterment,” he said.

Saxena is a Kanpur University alumnus and a licensed pilot.He took over as KVIC chief on October 27, 2015 and worked on several schemes and products focussed on artisan empowerment, natural products, footwear and handmade paper. As the head of the Khadi Commission, Saxena brought changes in the marketing strategy of the enterprise due to which khadi sales figures jumped from ₹1,070 crore in 2014-15 to ₹3,215 crore in 2018-19 —a quantum jump of over 200%. Similarly, in the village industries sector, the sales increased from ₹31,965 crore in 2014-15 to ₹71,100 crore — a growth of over 122%. The total turnover of khadi and village industries products has been around ₹74,315 crore in pre-Covid times.

In March last year, Saxena was named by the Union government as a member of the national committee to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. In November 2020, he was picked as a member of the Padma awards selection panel for 2021.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, welcomed the appointment. “Saxena is known for being an efficient administrator as well as for his progressive and innovative ideology, especially the way he has transformed KVIC. In just seven years, he increased the sales of KVIC by 105%, while also creating 3.2 million jobs through different schemes,” he said.

Officials in Raj Niwas, Delhi LG’s office-cum-residence, said that this was probably the first time that the Capital got an LG from a non-bureaucratic or non-defence background.

“As far as I can recall, this is the first time that an official from a non-bureaucratic background will be Delhi’s LG. We heartily welcome Saxena as the new LG and are looking forward to working with him. Since he has worked extensively in the private sector, he will bring with him innovative ideas to expedite delayed projects and think of out of the box schemes to involve all sectors of the society, including the private sector,” said a senior official in the LG office, requesting anonymity.

Saxena will take over the LG’s office at a time when the AAP government and the Centre are locked in a battle over municipal bodies in Delhi. Civic elections in the city are delayed owing to the reunification of the three civic bodies, which came into effect on May 22. The MCD elections are likely to be held at the end of this year or early next year. Saxena will also have to look into filling thousands of vacantness in various government departments, recruitment in most of which got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He will also have to sign off on key government schemes – for example, Baijal rejected the Delhi government’s doorstep delivery of ration project, cancelled its home isolation programme and blocked its plan to allow only Delhi residents to be treated at city hospitals for Covid-19.

Saxena joined JK Group in Rajasthan in 1984 as an assistant officer and worked for 11 years in various capacities in its white cement plant. He was transferred to Gujarat in 1995 as general manager to look after a proposed port project. Later on, he became the CEO and was made director of the Dholera Port Project.

In 2008, he was accorded an international felicitation by the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Development (UNDESD), UNESCO and UNDP in association with the International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP), USA, for his “outstanding contribution to environment protection and water security.” On September 9 2020, Saxena was nominated as a member of the research council of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology.

Saxena was also actively involved in the social sector. In 1991, he founded the non-governmental organisation National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), which carried out extensive relief work in the earthquake-hit areas of Kutch in 2001.The organisation also publicly opposed activist Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) during the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project. “His immense social and legal efforts in keeping at bay the vested interests that tried to disrupt the good work of Sardar Sarovar Project are also highly regarded in Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan,” according to his profile on KVIC.