DMs to spend night at villages today as part of Delhi L-G’s ₹800-crore infra push

11 District Magistrates to spend night in Delhi villages to prepare development plans for rural areas.

All 11 District Magistrates in the national capital will spend the night at Delhi villages on Sunday, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Capital aimed at holding consultation with villagers to prepare development plans for rural areas.

The initiative was announced on January 2 by Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena after he met representatives from 180 villages under the programme, ‘Samvaad@Raj Niwas’.

According to Raj Niwas officials, the exercise is aimed at chalking out a restoration and development plan for Delhi villages under the ambitious ‘Dilli Gramoday Abhiyan’, which is being executed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) at a cost of over ₹800 crore.

The L-G is the chairman of the DDA.

The villages where the DMs will be staying include Baprola, Tatesar (Rural), Kheda Dabar, Fatehpur Beri, Pul Prahladpur, Babarpur, Baquiabad, Jagatpur Samalkha, and Palla.

The DMs will also carry out inspections from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to identify the development works that need to be done in the villages, an official said, adding that the L-G had asked the officers to make assessments of challenges and socio-economic conditions faced by people living in villages.

From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., they will hold discussions with villagers around a bonfire and ask them to share their grievances and feedback. “These officers will give a practical prescription for all-round development and mainstreaming of villages,” an official added.