I've been working at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha as a researcher for 2.5 years & have been documenting data on @SatyendarJain departments. I have some thoughts about why every single Indian should know about this less talked about leader. Thread.
Satyendar Jain is an architect, as is his wife Poonam Jain. They ran a successful (highly profitable) architectural firm when he decided to give it all up and join India Against Corruption.
At 47, he decided to no longer work for money. His ambitions ranged taking his mother on a tirth yatra to giving back to his country โ none of which required money. So he shut down his practice and came to AAP.
Mohalla Clinics was his idea because you need an architect to construct a clinic in less than 20 lakh in porta cabins on pavements, in a city of complex land laws. From getting residents to find land to rehiring retired doctors - AAMCs were the most disruptive of schemes ever!
He noticed that the per bed cost (non AC) of hospitals (Burari, Ambedkar Nagar, Dwarka) under construction by Congress was amounting to 1 crore. He slashed it to less than 20 lakh & increased bed strength. Dikshit once confessed she would have benefited from a minister like him.
He was the one who constructed 21,000 new classrooms at a fraction of the cost. The money saved from PWDโs construction projects went into offering essential drugs free in Delhi. Capital has an Essential Drug List! Jain has made such subsidies/'freebies' fiscally prudent!
It has never been easy to secure land to make these Clinics. Jain has fought tooth and nail for each one! Before setting up AAMCs, he used to tour hospitals & realised doctors were competent but administrative & management wasnโt designed to cater to a large crowd of patients.
He realized Delhi doesn't lack competent doctors but management of hospitals required profesionalised. Ever heard of HR practices in hospitals? Jain's doing! The same hospitals are functioning more effectively! Every other week, he inaugurates MRI machines & modern NICUs!
From reps of the Harvard Medical School coming to learn about AAMCs, to praise from Amartya Sen, Ban-ki-Moon, to advisors from IIT, Stanford, Princeton, Cambridge, he attracts high praise from non-political people & surrounds himself with domain experts!
Do you know Rohini has the biggest energy storage system of its kind in South Asia. Inaugurated by Jain! Do you know the DJB, under his guidance, is setting up modern extraction wells, Sewage Treatment Plants & reviving water bodies!
Do you know Rohini has the biggest energy storage system of its kind in South Asia. Inaugurated by Jain! Do you know the DJB, under his guidance, is setting up modern extraction wells! Delhi perhaps doesn't even know where these are!
Ever been to Palla or Rajokri? At a mere cost of Rs 222.10 lakhs, the department revived the water body at Rajokri village. The three-year pilot project which started in 2019 involved retaining excess Yamuna water in shallow reservoirs on the floodplains during the monsoon season
Who slashed your electricity bills? Jainโs power department! If today, TRANSCO is cash rich (was in deep debt during Sheila Dikshitโs time) it is due to the steps he took! Who implemented AAPโs solar policy & installed those CCTV cameras? Jain!!!
From Farishtey Yojana to shutting down polluted coal plants to focus on cleaner, cheaper power, Jain did whatever he could for Delhi.
He may not be a dramatic orator like Smriti Irani, but this man has worked very hard, very honestly and brought innovation to governance. His story remains less known because he is not a political minister, he is a governance minister & a true son of India! Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Last tweet: Jain also helped the Kejriwal Govt save way over 100 crore in a flyover project & had earned praise from Venkaiah Naidu. The project was sanctioned Rs 247 crore by the Sheila Dikshit Govt. This is what @ArvindKejriwal has enabled in India. india.com
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