A Question of Answers: 'I would like to make space for grass to grow'

She went to school in picturesque Dalhousie, studied geography at college in Chandigarh, a creation of Le Corbusier, the famous French architect. And through her 30 years as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), she served in idyllic Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast of the country, and for a while in Pondicherry, the former French enclave in south India.

So, it is but natural that Parminder Mandip Singh - referred to in official papers and statements as Mrs P.M. Singh - finds the job of the chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) the toughest assignment of her career.

The challenge does not daunt her. She knows the job because she had been a deputy commissioner in the NDMC a few years ago."I know what is required," she says in her modest, but confident, tone.

The Indian capital is a concrete jungle in more ways than one. It not only has about 14 million people, but it is also home to powerful people in the country - the president, the prime minister and the members of parliament. And the job requires that she make Delhi a comfortable place for the rich and the powerful as also the millions who throng the city everyday in search of a livelihood.

Undeterred by the problematic job at hand, Singh has set for herself a simple, but by no means easy target. She wants to keep New Delhi clean, and also make it culturally vibrant. She wants her aesthetic sense, moulded by her stay in Dalhousie, Chandigarh and Arunachal Pradesh, to be her guiding star.

She wants more of green grass to be visible as part of her campaign of cleaning Delhi's streets. "People think that to make a place clean all that you have to do is to fence it off, and cement it. I want to make space for the grass to grow."

Not easy to achieve, but Singh is confident that she can do it. "Talk to me after six months, and I will tell you what I have managed to do," she says, a shy smile on the bureaucrat's no-nonsense face.

In an interview with Gulf News, Parminder Mandip Singh, the first woman to head the administration of one of the biggest metropolises in the world, talks about the challenges she faces in her new assignment, and about her career in the government in the last three decades.

Excerpts from the interview:

Is this - chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) - the toughest assignment of your career?
Yes. It is. But it is not something new. I have been associated with the NDMC earlier as deputy commissioner. So I am aware of what the job requires.

Have you set a goal that you want to achieve?
I want to keep New Delhi clean. It is very important, but it is also difficult to achieve because of the floating population which comes into the city every morning and leaves at the end of the day.

What is the problem? Is it lack of financial resources?
It is not always the financial crunch. It has to do with attitude. For example, people think that to make a place clean all that you have to do is fence it off and cement the surface. But I would like to make space for the grass to grow.

Is the present assignment also a difficult one because of the complicated intermeshing of competing power centres?
You have the Delhi government on the one side and the Central Government on the other. Then there is the elected New Delhi Municipal Corporation.

It is not a difficult situation because the agenda of the politicians and that of the bureaucrats is the same. It is to make the city a better place to live in. I find it easy to deal with the people's representatives. We have Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, and member of parliament for Delhi, Jagmohan - who is also a minister for culture in Vajpayee's cabinet - as members of the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Looking back on your career, which was the assignment that you enjoyed?
It was the six years I spent in Arunachal Pradesh that I enjoyed most. There were mountains all round, and one could go out for long walks. It was a beautiful place.

What do you do in your leisure time?
I play golf on weekends, and catch up with my reading. And I spend time with my husband and daughter.

How do you deal with the stress that comes with a job like this?
I do not let stress take over. I keep it at bay. I do yoga twice or thrice a week, and that takes care of stress.

Which is your home city?
It is Chandigarh. I went to college there, and studied geography.

So from a compact and smart Chandigarh to a concrete jungle like New Delhi must be quite a shock?
In a way, yes. But my effort will be to make New Delhi clean and beautiful like Chandigarh.

What are the problems you find facing you at the moment, and how do you hope to tackle them?
I have taken over a few weeks ago. Talk to me six months from now, and I will be able to tell you what we have been able to do.

Will you be taking up developmental projects?
The one I am pursuing is to build shelters for destitute women and children.

Are they meant to be temporrary winter shelters?
We plan them to be permanent shelters. We hope to have them in place soon.

Are you doing anything about NDMC's sponsorship of culture programmes in New Delhi?
I am certainly keen that NDMC organises culture programmes. But I am now looking out for corporate sponsorships for such events. NDMC would not be spending its money. And I am confident that the private sector will step forward in supporting the cultural events that NDMC will organise.