Watch Agra’s new municipal corporation chief Vinay Shankar Pandey in action. Each morning, Pandey leads his army of over 2000 safai karamcharis to clean up Agra to make it fit to be called the city of the Taj Mahal.

 “I leave my home at 7.30 in the morning and walk down streets or bazaars, the crowded colonies and the slums to be with those whose job it is to clean up. In the evenings I move around to see the street lighting, any breakdown, or darkness anywhere draws my attention and immediately I contact the person in-charge who sorts things out,” Municipal Commissioner of Agra Corporation tells Agratoday.in in an interview.

 Young and dynamic Vinay Pandey knows Agra rather too well, with his two earlier stints as secretary Agra Development Authority and as the Joint Development Commissioner. “Surely the experiences and insights, I developed are helping me in my new role which is very demanding as the expectation level is too high. But I prefer to do my homework scientifically and systematically before venturing on any new assignment,” Pandey clarifies.

 His forthright views and his stress on transparency have often landed him into hot waters, but “I come from a family that has deep rooted sanskars, and commitment to values. Corrupt practices do not fascinate me and I have little attraction for the dirty money. I therefore prefer openness and fair play in all my operations.”

 Pandey studied at Allahabad University, belongs to the 1997 civil services batch, is married to Aparna Pandey, a judicial magistrate also posted in Agra, and has a son and a daughter. He likes watching movies, listens to good music and is a strict vegetarian. He starts his day with some puja and cow worship. “I brought my own cow and am deeply attached to it.”

 Before joining government service Pandey worked as a journalist for the Herald group in Allahabad.

 “Obviously this stint gave me a lot of insights and brought me closer to the reality, apart from sharpening my communication skills,” he says.

 What really is the problem with people in Agra? Pandey says “Agraites are not proud of their history, heritage and culture. That sense of belongingness is clearly missing. Everyone feels like an OUTSIDER. This isolation and alienation syndromes must be addressed. I think we need to launch an educational programme and some propaganda on this front.”

 With this in mind, Pandey is planning giving some sops to those who own heritage properties in Agra. “Maybe some incentives by way of exemption in house tax or other relief. We are studying this aspect.”

 The Taj Mahal belongs to Agra and in order to make people proud of the Taj Mahal, it would not be a bad idea to levy some kind of fees on those who use the Taj to promote or brand their products.

 “Some revenue can definitely be generated through this,” he adds.

Cleanliness is Agra’s biggest challenge, according to Pandey. “Against the WHO health manual the city should have a minimum of 7500 safai karamcharis. But we have only 2500. The public must get what they deserve. We are trying to fill in the gaps.”

Right now Pandey’s focus is on the slums in the city. “We are concentrating on cleanliness, providing more toilets, re-boring of hand-pumps, and providing street lighting through our latest operation Chandni. 27 gangs have been constituted to sort out lighting problems.” 

After a week’s comprehensive survey of the existing state of affairs in the slums, “we came up with alarming data. Immediately we drew up a plan to effectively address the problems of these slums.

Against a requirement of 963 we have only around 350 safai karamcharis for these localities. We found the street lighting and the general cleanliness situation shocking. A multi-pronged strategy has now been launched and very soon results would begin showing,” Pandey said.

The complaint cell in the Municipal corporation has been computerized. The toll free number is helping people register their complaints online. “These are promptly addressed. This has helped us bridge the huge nagging communication gaps between different layers of the society and we feel closer to them now.”

The lack of motivation and passion in the elected representatives to take their city among the front rankers is a political issue. “The sad part is that most of the 100 odd corporators do not feel involved in civic affairs, perhaps because they have little role to play in the policy planning.”

Pandey was not averse to the idea that every decision that the Agra Development Authority Board took about urban planning was debated in the elected house and endorsed by the Municipal Corporation.

In recent years there has been a lot of criticism of the ADA which is accountable to none and is characterized by ad hocism which is reflected in its lack of vision for the city and haphazard growth of the urban clusters. “The situation is that the elected corporation comprising the mayor and her 100 Corporators, is only meant to look after the safai karamcharis, get the drains cleaned, and sanitize the city,” Pandey said.

But Vinay Shankar Pandey has many dreams and lots of schemes to involve the people to ensure the great Mughal metro turns the tables and showcases the grandeur and splendor of the past and be worthy of such exotic monuments like the Taj Mahal and the Fort.