S. Jaipal Reddy | 57 Minister of Urban Development - Jaipal Reddy
S. Jaipal Reddy, 57 Minister of Urban Development
After taking over from Ghulam Nabi Azad in November 2005, Reddy neither took key policy decisions nor launched new schemes.
His brief
Development and expansion of infrastructure, a comprehensive urban renewal programme, modernisation of urban transport and reviving municipal administration.
The deliveries
• Metro Rail projects for Bangalore and Kolkata and for Mumbai and Hyderabad on public private partnership mode are in different stages of progress. Metro project for Chennai has received Cabinet nod.
• Proposals for Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS) in several cities have been approved under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.
Reforms derailed
• It was Reddy’s mandate to prod state-owned companies to invest in green technology and avail carbon credits in the global market. But just two ONGC projects could do that.
• The UPA’s flagship programme JNNURM required an overhaul of urban local bodies. Despite sanction of Rs 30,605 crore for 328 projects, just Rs 3,506 crore has been released.
• Only six of 63 local bodies could tap the bond market till 2008.
• With 18 months left for the Commonwealth Games, the Games Village is not yet ready. A GoM under Reddy was set up in December 2008. Now, the CAG has decided to undertake a quick audit of the work.
Reforms scuttled
Put the real estate regulator Bill for Delhi (NCR) on the backburner.
Opportunities blown
He failed to transform the urban landscape of 63 cities despite the Rs 50,000-crore flagship JNNURM scheme.
Low Point
In 2008, an allotment scam was unearthed in the draw for 5,000 DDA flats.
View from the shadow
“His performance has been dismal. Some good schemes were launched during my tenure, like the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana for the urban poor, which have all been shelved.” —Ananth Kumar, former minister of urban development in the NDA
Did he get your vote?
He won by a margin of 20,000 votes from Chevella, Andhra.