Vol. 1 No. 6 Pages 32 ` 7 30 Sep–6 Oct 2011
{Inside} Millennium Art
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eportage from the recently held Art Mart III— the three-day art festival, held annually at Epicentre— that is a meeting ground for art connoisseurs and art amateurs alike. ...Pg 6
Know Your Councillor
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Time to Act
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spotlight on iamgurgaon, an NGO of concerned citizens, that believes in being the change it wants to see; and is behind the million trees plantation drive at the city’s bio-diversity park. ...Pg 10
School City
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double-page spread on the city’s premier day schools and boardings, highlighting the positives of each and then differences. ...Pgs 12 & 13
School Sex Education
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he debate behind the introduction of sex education in schools, with inputs from leading child psychologists. ...Pg 23
Deserves Credit for the Development of Gurgaon–A Core Competence Area, and the Main Responsibility Deserves Blame for an Inadequate Role in the Maintenance of Gurgaon – A Role HUDA is not Well-Equipped for, and Needs to Hand Over Completely { Hritvick Sen / FG }
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itin Yadav, HUDA Administrator, is in charge of Gurgaon’s arguably most influential public body. It is a post where the average tenure is under two years. He has been at the helm for over a year. He seems to relish his responsibility, and is articulate – and fairly forthcoming. As a body that has responsibility for the civic maintenance of a major part of Gurgaon City, HUDA is at the centre of Gurgaon’s most apparent shortcoming – an extremely poor civic infrastructure; especially of roads and sewerage/sanitation.
Excerpts from a meeting with Nitin Yadav.
“Every public body has its core competency. Ours is spearheading development, not carrying on the supply chain. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) can come forward and take the sectors. They’re welcome to it. In fact, Sector-14 was given to MCG (then Municipal Committee) as far back as 1989. It wasn’t taken over. The maintenance is still managed by HUDA. The State Government has asked us to transfer HUDA sectors north of the national highway, to the MCG. This will happen, but with the assent and assistance of the Corporation. This would be similar to the framework in Faridabad,” he says. “MCG needs to assess
heartwarming report about an outreach by the muppets of the world famous Sesame Street— or Galli Galli Sim Sim, as its called in India, that is being broadcast to the city’s schoolchildren, using a community radio channel. ...Pg 24
whether they have the appropriate trained and experienced staff, to undertake the task”. It is said that HUDA staff are not willing to move to MCG – for personal and commercial reasons. Yadav is direct, “We have identified the staff, and also issued letters for the proposed transfer.” It is also said that the MCG officials are refusing to take over the HUDA sectors, because the ownership is not being transferred. . There are also issues of unsold plots.
TOLL PLAZA
Muppets & the Media
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PRAKHAR PANDEY
ontinuing our series, this week we meet Ravinder Yadav, the councillor for Ward No. 2 Palam Vihar and its surrounds; and Monika Yadav who represents Ward No. 3. ...Pg 9
HUDA—Prime Developer of Gurgaon, and Haryana
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he toll plaza shooting has some valuable lessons for us. We should recognize that, despite claims of being a polished Millenium city, we have our severe rough edges. Also, that for certain folk, taking a life is not a big deal—still. And that modern firearms are seemingly easy to obtain (and of course afford). What was a welcome sign, was the capture of the assailant, in fairly good time. We have almost got used to killers/terrorists getting away far too easily—and not being traced for years. Till it becomes a mere memory for most. The police also should be recognized for a well planned search operation – in terms of the areas of coverage, and the force deployed. In quick time. What remains is the lessons, and actions for the future.
Now that the city is developed, using funds collected from elsewhere, shouldn’t Gurgaon contribute to the benefit of other towns of Haryana?
“See, the HUDA Act has no provision for this. The terms of the Act allow transfer of services, not of property itself. We have invested a significant amount of time and money building these sectors from scratch. And the fact is, we are not the original owners of these land tracts. HUDA had, and has, to buy them from the original owners. Example, in some areas today, the collector rate itself is Rs 1 crore per acre. ” he says “We bought the land, and developed it.
Contd on p 8
Both at the police level; as well as the toll concessionaire. Not just for the obvious items like camera or guards or police supervision—but a step ahead. And in other similar locations (like parking lots, malls, pubs). It is important that the guilty be punished severely—and soon. And the family of the deceased well taken care—now. Update from the Police Commissioner’s office The CCTVs at the toll plaza would now more effectively capture the vehicle registration number, and face of the driver – they were more focused inside the cabin, on cash. Also, the congestion at toll plazas needs to be brought down urgently. Instead of looking for space width (for increase in number of gates), perhaps staggered gates (like a Z) on a length basis, may be a very effective solution. A letter has been sent to all relevant commercial establishments, on effective placement and use of CCTVs. Those that already have good CCTV surveillance, suffer very little by way of theft or eve teasing. u