New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi Tuesday showered praise on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, saying Delhi government under her leadership has changed the face of the city and ensured "unparallelled development" in the last 15 years.
"The way the Congress Government in Delhi under the leadership of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit changed the face of Delhi in the last 15 years is in front of you. You yourself can feel the difference between the Delhi of today and what it was 15 years back," Gandhi said.
The Congress chief the Delhi Government has ensured a better quality of life by improving basic amenities and initiating "pro-people" policies.
She was speaking after launching the ambitious food security programme coinciding the 69th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"The Congress government of Delhi has always understood the difficulties of the common man and accordingly has been taking measures to address them. We can say that the development that has taken place in Delhi is unparallelled," Gandhi said.
Launching the ambitious food security programme, she hailed it as an "unparallelled" scheme in the world.
The scheme was rolled out in three Congress-ruled states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand even as the consideration of the Bill was scuttled in Parliament by the Opposition, which cornered the government on the issue of missing files related to the coal block allocation.
"I am happy that today Delhi Government is starting to implement the historical programme. Under the scheme the beneficiaries will get food grains from September 1. I am confident that Delhi Government will succeed in implementing the scheme," she said.
Gandhi also handed over food security cards and five kg grain packets to 12 women beneficiaries.
She also mentioned the Delhi Metro and said it has become life-line of the national capital.
"The Delhi Government has ensured a better quality of life by improving basic amenities...Particularly the metro has become a lifeline of Delhi. It has earned accolades of all. Such initiatives of Sheila Dikshit have been praised by all," said Gandhi.
"I praise Sheila Dikshit and her ministers for pro-people initiatives. The struggle for progress of people should always continue. Public service should be our religion and aim and there should be no let up in it. This would be the real tribute to Rajiv Gandhi," she said.
Delhi government will provide benefits under the scheme to 73.5 lakh people in the city out of the total population of 1.68 crore.
