Gurgaon’s new Dy Commissioner: Travelling exposes you to what’s happening around

Vinay Pratap Singh, the new deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, says his travel experiences help him understand and work better in the Millennium City.

“It’s not about the age,” says Vinay Pratap Singh, IAS officer from Faridabad, who has been appointed as the deputy commissioner (DC) of Gurgaon last week. Ever since the 29-year-old took charge of his office, it has been quite a journey for him — from greeting people to hearing their grievances. “Fortunately, the experience of working in the city (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,” he says.

Deputy commissioner of Gurgaon, Vinay Pratap Singh says his experience of working as additional DC (Gurgaon) has helped him understand the city a lot more. (Waseem Gashroo/HT Photo)

Singh shares that he uses his travel experience to understand various models, that can be replicated in the city. (Facebook/ Vinay Pratap Singh )

Singh, who is a travel enthusiast, says his travel experiences come in handy when he gets to work in the Millennium City. “Travelling exposes you to what’s happening around. When I travel, working as an administrator is always there in the backdrop. So one always sees both good and bad about places you visit. Being inquisitive, you understand how things go bad or [turn up as] good. There are some good cities that have [even] 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 Singh, who is a graduate of Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan.

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

The talk with this Gurgaon administrator eventually veers towards the issue of women safety. “Gurgaon has a large number of women working in corporates. Also, considering the late night working hours of the BPO or IT sector, we endeavour to give priority to women’s safety. One aspect is safety within 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 year, we have done a good amount of work in this field.”

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

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