Death Anniversary: Sheila Dikshit, a woman who reformed  Delhi 

Vision, Success and Political Journey: Here is everything you need to know

Introduction 

Sheila Dikshit was born on 31 March 1938 in Kapurthala, Punjab.  She studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in New Delhi and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in History from the Miranda House at the University of Delhi. Sheila Dixit was selected by Rajiv Gandhi when he became the Prime Minister in 1984. During the period between 1984 and 1989, she represented Kannauj parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh. 

Sheila Dixit Presence

Political Career

She was a Visionary 

Sheila Dikshit had a vision for a greener and cleaner Delhi. It was a challenging time for Delhi with multiple challenges like air pollution, water shortage, power shortage and poor quality infrastructure. Her vision of Delhi as a modern city worthy of being called the capital of a rising nation was by and large fulfilled.

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She was a true environmentalist!

Dikshit always said, “Delhi is rich in the human resource but poor in natural resources.” She was a committed environmentalist. She took an initiative to convert all the diesel engine buses to CNG buses to control the air quality. By looking at the needs of everyone, she introduced low floor AC buses so that people of every age group specifically focusing on the older age people can extract the maximum benefits of public transport. The new technology brought a revolution in public transport. Dikshit was generous in allotting land for the purpose to Indraprastha Gas Limited which was a joint venture of Government of Delhi and Gas Authority of India to support the needs and requirement in terms of providing CNG.

The water shortage issue

Water has always been a tricky issue in Delhi. Some parts of Delhi underwent a complete water scarcity. Dikshit’s vision led to transport the Ganga canal water to Delhi. This improved the water distribution problem of Delhi, the entire water system changed, 

With that,  people started consuming clean water. As the quality improved, the needs of people increased at a drastic rate. Dikshit supported the Renuka Dam project to qualify the needs. 

Water Shortage Issue

Infrastructure and Power issue: Common Wealth, a complete game-changer 

The major challenges that came before the opening of Commonwealth Games were the improper space for the practice and commencement of Global events. Some of the foreign team managers had started complaining about a lack of complete infrastructure and pointed to negative press reports. Sheila Dikshit went to the Games Village and had a discussion with the delegates. Dikshit took this issue on a positive end and went with a smile on her face and gave hopes to the officials that the work will be done on time.

Infrastructure Issue

Green Delhi 

She started the hugely successful campaign involving children for a cracker free Diwali in Delhi as well a Green and Clean Delhi campaign. Planting saplings and giving saplings as gifts in official functions and school meetings was a trait that she followed every time. She always referred that “no gift “can be as expensive as plants.  Gifting plants became a rage and this also impacted environment in a positive way. 

Delhi Revolution

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