Vinay Kumar Saxena on Thursday became the 22nd Lieutenant Governor of the national capital Delhi. Khadi and Village Industries Commission Chairman Saxena was appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi after Anil Baijal resigned last week.
“I will work as a local guardian. You will see me on the streets more than at Raj Niwas. Pollution is a big issue in Delhi, the Centre, along with the Delhi government and local citizens will try to solve this problem.”
Last month, a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan informed that President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted Baijal’s resignation and appointed Vinay Kumar Saxena as the new Lieutenant Governor. Baijal, who served as the Delhi LG for five years and four months, resigned citing personal reasons.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues, Union Minister Giriraj Singh, Delhi MPs and MLAs and top bureaucrats of the city government attended Saxena’s ceremony on Thursday.
Who is Vinay Kumar Saxena – the new LG of Delhi
- Vinay Kumar Saxena Born in Uttar Pradesh and graduated from Kanpur University in 1981. Saxena also holds a pilot’s license.
- In 1984, Vinay Kumar Saxena started his career with JK Group as an assistant officer in Rajasthan. He served in various positions for 11 years. He was promoted to General Manager in 1995 to oversee the proposed port project in Gujarat.
- In 1991, he founded the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), a non-profit non-governmental organization with headquarters in Ahmedabad. NCCL opposed social activist Medha Patkar and her Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).
- In October 2015, saxena He was appointed as the Chairman of KVIC, where he worked on the Khadi and Village Industries sectors and implemented several innovative employment-generating schemes such as the ‘Honey Mission’, the ‘Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana’ and the ‘Leather Artisan’ empowerment scheme.
- During his tenure, KVIC’s business grew by a whopping 248% while massive 40 lakh new jobs were created in just seven years.
- This was the first time that KVIC did the historical business of 1.15 lakh crore in 2021-22, highest ever by KVIC and any FMCG company in India.
- From 2016 to 2022, Saxena was nominated every year as a member of the ‘Empowered Committee’ to evaluate the “Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration”.
- In November 2020, he was named as a member of the Padma Awards selection panel for the year 2021.
- He was appointed as a member of the National Committee by the Central Government in March 2021 to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.
- In his career spanning six decades, Saxena has won many awards for his achievements. In May 2008, he won an international honor by the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Development (UNDESD) in collaboration with UNESCO, UNICEF and UNDP for his “outstanding contribution to environmental protection and water security” in Gujarat.