Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday announced a slew of austerity and fuel-saving measures, including ‘work from home’ for government employees twice a week, staggered office timings, and a push for public transport under the 90-day ‘Mera Bharat, Mera Yogdan’ campaign.

Ms. Gupta said 50% of government meetings would now be conducted online. Colleges and universities in Delhi will be requested to hold non-practical classes, guest lectures, and administrative meetings virtually.

The Chief Minister said the campaign aims to involve both government institutions and citizens in building “a more self-reliant and resource-conscious India”.

The initiative focuses on fuel conservation, increased use of public transport, promotion of Made-in-India products, and responsible consumption practices, she said.

To facilitate the implementation of work-from-home measures, the Labour Department will establish a single-window help desk and coordinate with the Centre to resolve operational concerns. The Delhi government will also engage directly with major institutions and companies to encourage participation, Ms. Gupta said.

‘Metro Monday’

The Chief Minister said every Monday would now be observed as ‘Metro Monday’, under which Ministers and senior officials would be encouraged to use the Delhi Metro and other forms of public transport. To reduce traffic congestion, staggered office timings have also been introduced.

Delhi government offices will function from 10.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. while Municipal Corporation of Delhi offices will operate from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Since Central government offices function from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., the revised timings are expected to ease peak-hour traffic across the city.

Ms. Gupta also appealed to citizens to observe a ‘No Vehicle Day’ every week by voluntarily avoiding the use of private vehicles. She said the Delhi government will not purchase any new petrol, diesel, CNG, or hybrid vehicles for the next six months.

The Chief Minister said Ministers and senior officers of the government will not undertake official foreign visits for the next one year. She also appealed to residents to voluntarily limit non-essential foreign travel. A verified list of Indian electronic and domestic products will be released to help consumers identify indigenous alternatives.

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has proposed stronger integration between bus services and the metro network in Delhi to boost public transport usage amid concerns over rising crude oil prices due to the conflict in West Asia.

In an office memorandum sent to the Cabinet Secretariat on Tuesday, the Ministry stressed the need for “prudent mobility and austerity measures” in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for “economic self-defence” through reduced dependence on imported oil.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday launched the Aftercare Scheme for Young Persons to provide continued support to youth leaving institutional care after they turn 18 by assisting them with higher education, skill development, and employment opportunities.

Ms. Gupta made the announcement during her visit to the Village Cottage Home in Lajpat Nagar, a facility run by the Women and Child Development Department, where she interacted with children.

Speaking on Mother’s Day, she said the government has earmarked ₹3.5 crore for the scheme in the current financial year.

“The primary objective of the scheme is to provide continued support, guidance and opportunities to youth leaving institutional care so they can move towards independent, secure and dignified lives,” said the CM.

Asserting that the government’s responsibility does not end with providing shelter and protection to children, she said the scheme will be implemented under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Under the scheme, eligible beneficiaries will receive assistance for higher education and college studies along with access to skill development and vocational training programmes.

Monthly stipend

“The government will also focus on connecting young people with internships and employment opportunities. Financial support, mentoring, counselling, career guidance, support for independent living, and a monthly stipend have also been included,” Ms. Gupta said.

She said the government’s approach goes beyond institutional care and “focuses on preparing children for life”.

Noting that nearly 150 to 200 young people leave child care institutions every year after turning 18, the CM said many struggle with continuing education, finding employment, and managing financial difficulties. “The new scheme has been designed to provide structured assistance to all such young adults,” she said. The beneficiaries will be identified through need-based assessments and individual care plans.

Meanwhile, Delhi Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Indraj Singh announced a special five-day rescue campaign across the national capital, which starts from Monday, to rescue needy, helpless, and destitute individuals and shift them to Apna Ghar Ashrams for treatment, care, and rehabilitation.

With less than a week left for the completion of the first phase of Census 2027 in New Delhi district, enumerators have surveyed nearly 60,000 households through the House Listing Operations (HLO) mobile application and mapped around 80% of Census houses ahead of the May 15 deadline, according to official progress data accessed by The Hindu.

The house listing and housing census exercise began on April 16 across areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment jurisdictions. It involves physical mapping and geotagging of structures, followed by a door-to-door survey conducted by enumerators.

The district has been divided into 586 House Listing Blocks (HLBs), each assigned to an enumerator and estimated to cover around 180-200 houses and a population of 600-800 people. Enumerators collect responses to 33 questions through the HLO. These include details related to construction material used in houses, sources of drinking water, cooking fuel, Internet connectivity, household composition and household amenities, among others.

The information is then verified by supervisors before being uploaded to the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal. While enumeration data for nearly 60,000 households has been uploaded through the HLO application, supervisor verification has been completed for 55,202 households.

More houses identified

“When the exercise started, 571 HLBs were identified. However, as the door-to-door exercise progressed, more houses were identified and marked,” said Kapil Chaudhary, New Delhi district Census officer.

According to the May 8 progress report, 96,550 census houses have been marked by enumerators in the New Delhi district. Of these, around 77,000 houses, nearly 80%, have been mapped so far. Delhi Cantonment recorded the highest proportion of pending mapping work with over 70% of mapping still to be completed.

“For locked houses, enumerators make three visits before marking them absent, as per the rules,” Mr. Chaudhary said. He said the overall exercise remains on track and is expected to be completed within the deadline.

The Delhi government has declared around 673.32 hectares of the Central Ridge area as ‘reserved forest’ under Section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said on Saturday, terming it a “historic milestone” in environmental conservation.

The newly notified area falls under the Western Forest Division of the Forest Department and includes parts surrounding Sardar Patel Marg and the President’s Estate. The decision has been approved by Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, according to sources. However, the mandatory gazette notification was not issued till Saturday evening.

Despite court directions, notification of Delhi’s Ridge areas as a reserved forest for stronger legal protection had remained pending for years.

As per the Forest Department, the total area of the Northern, Central, South-Central, Southern and Nanakpura Ridge stretches in Delhi is 7,784 hectares. “With the present notification of 673.32 hectares of the 864-hectare Central Ridge, the current government has so far granted reserved forest status to a total of 4,754.14 hectares of Ridge areas,” an official statement said.

Expediting process

Noting that the remaining Ridge areas in Delhi would also soon be notified as reserved forests, Ms. Gupta said the process was being “expedited”. She added that around 4,080.82 hectares of the Southern Ridge area had been declared a reserved forest on October 24 last year, and the government will undertake large-scale plantation of native and environmentally suitable tree species wherever vacant land is available in Ridge areas declared as reserved forests.

The Chief Minister said the declaration of the Central Ridge area as a reserved forest completed an important process that had remained pending for more than three decades. The issue had also drawn repeated observations from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

In a January 15, 2021, order, the NGT stressed an “urgent need” to protect the Ridge and directed authorities to finalise the Section 20 notification within three months for areas where no dispute existed.

In another order dated July 4, 2025, the tribunal noted that the process was being “unnecessarily delayed” and sought affidavits from authorities detailing timelines for issuing the final notification.

Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Saturday said the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will begin work in a phased manner on the rejuvenation and restoration of 77 water bodies in the Capital.

Mr. Sandhu, who is also DDA chairman, said all plans related to the restoration will be implemented immediately and timelines must be strictly adhered to. “Following my directions to swiftly implement a concrete plan of action for the revival and restoration of Delhi’s priceless yet rapidly deteriorating aquatic assets, DDA is immediately commencing work on 77 water bodies,” the L-G posted on X.

Beginning with six water bodies in the north-west district, including Sultanpur Dabas, Rani Khera and Madanpur Dabas, which will be restored within the next 30 days, the DDA plans to revive 48 more water bodies in the next 60 days and the remaining 23 within 90 days, a senior DDA official said. “Work on the remaining water bodies will be undertaken in a phased manner,” the official said.

Dead and deteriorating water bodies will be taken up in the first phase for rejuvenation through dredging, excavation and desilting, besides the clearance of catchment areas to ensure maximum rainwater recharge. “Once revived, the second phase will include strengthening embankments, plantation drives, construction of fencing and beautification work,” the official said.

Forty-eight smaller water bodies, including those in outer Delhi and south-west Delhi areas such as Baprola, Ghitorni, Chirag Delhi, Kapashera and Bawana, requiring excavation and desilting will be restored within 60 days. After that, work will begin on 23 larger water bodies in Burari, Mahipalpur, Hiranki, Alipur, Nangli Pur, Samaypur and other areas.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday said a structural audit of all government schools will be conducted to assess the condition of buildings and basic facilities after finding safety and infrastructure lapses during an inspection of a government school.

Ms. Gupta also criticised the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s education model, saying it was heavily promoted but essential ground-level issues remained unaddressed. “The audit will examine the structural strength and safety of school buildings, along with basic amenities such as drinking water, toilets, cleanliness and fire safety systems,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.

The CM’s remarks came after inspecting Rajkiya Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Roop Nagar, where she found several lapses.

“Students informed the Chief Minister that the school lacked proper access to clean drinking water, with water coolers and RO systems lying non-functional for a long time. As a result, many students were forced to drink tap water directly,” read the statement.

Students also complained about the poor condition of toilets, saying several doors were broken, regular cleaning was not carried out, and the water supply remained inconsistent. “Expressing strong displeasure over the lapses, she reprimanded officials and said negligence related to children’s safety would not be tolerated under any circumstances,” read the statement. The Chief Minister directed the departments concerned to immediately address all safety-related shortcomings in the school.

Publicity versus reality

Ms. Gupta said students would not be struggling for basic facilities had the previous government genuinely strengthened the education system. “Advertisements and publicity alone cannot improve education. What matters is ensuring real facilities, a safe environment and quality education for children,” she said.

Ms. Gupta said the Delhi government is committed to delivering concrete, result-oriented work instead of indulging in “politics of appearances”. She said over the past year, the government had been working consistently to strengthen basic facilities and modernise infrastructure in government schools. The Chief Minister said the government aims to provide every student with clean drinking water, hygienic toilets, smart classrooms, digital facilities and safe infrastructure. 

Calling for continued support to preserve the human essence of journalism in an increasingly AI-driven media landscape, 10 women journalists from Uttar Pradesh launched their collective memoir — ‘The Good Reporter’, translated into Hindi as ‘Badi Aayi Patrakar’ — in Delhi on Friday. “The stories from the field are our own stories, our own lived battles,” said Geeta Devi, one of the co-authors.

The book captures the experiences of a first-of-its-kind collective of women journalists as they navigate the complexities of their personal and professional lives. The memoir details their relentless battles, on and off the field, as they confront a male-dominated society and endure persistent taunts from within their own communities.

The event marked 25 years of Khabar Lahariya, a feminist media institution that began in a rocky, feudal belt where female journalists — particularly those from Dalit, OBC, and Muslim communities — were rarely seen before.

The evening opened with a “cold read” of excerpts by co-authors Lalita, Lakshmi, Shyamkali, and Ms. Geeta, who shared the vision and ideas behind the book. Publisher and author Urvashi Butalia spoke about the historical significance of the work: “A certain change has happened in society, which is why a book like yours exists. I wish I had published this myself; it is a necessity for our times.”

Another co-author, Suneeta Prajapati, described the writing process as an emotional odyssey. “We cried, we laughed, and we held hands,” she said, describing the energy of the room as they revisited their journey from local reporters to internationally recognised journalists.

Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Friday said Delhi must move beyond being only the country’s political capital and become a future-ready global city built on five pillars: sustainability, inclusion, culture, innovation and economic growth, and compassion.

He was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised for him by Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies, of which he is an alumnus. Mr. Sandhu said Delhi has continuously evolved over centuries and is now at another important stage in its development.

“Delhi is not merely a city. It is a living civilisational narrative,” he said, tracing the city’s journey from Indraprastha to Shahjahanabad and from the Lutyens’ zone to the aspirations of a modern global capital.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the Capital, the L-G said, “Reimagining Delhi is not about infrastructure but the very experience of urban living.” He added that governance must remain “responsive, accessible and humane”.

On sustainability, which he described as the first pillar of Delhi’s future, Mr. Sandhu said no city could aspire for global leadership without sincerely addressing environmental challenges. Aiming for cleaner air, rejuvenated water bodies, increased green cover, better waste management, renewable energy adoption, and sustainable mobility systems should become central to Delhi’s urban vision, the L-G said.

Yamuna revival

“The Yamuna must be restored as the ecological and cultural lifeline of the city,” he said while calling for stronger public transport systems, expansion of electric mobility, pedestrian-friendly streets and better cycling infrastructure as part of the city’s future planning.

Highlighting inclusion as another key pillar, Mr. Sandhu said a truly global capital must ensure equal opportunities for all sections of society. “Reimagining Delhi means creating a city that is empathetic to the elderly, accessible to persons with disabilities, safe for women, supportive of children, respectful towards workers, and caring towards the underprivileged,” he said.

Retaining cultural soul

Emphasising Delhi’s cultural legacy, Mr. Sandhu said modernisation should not come at the cost of the city’s heritage. “As we modernise Delhi, we must ensure that we do not lose its cultural memory. Instead, we must strengthen Delhi’s position as a global cultural capital,” he said, calling for investments in museums, public art, heritage restoration, creative industries and cultural tourism.

Describing compassion as the “most important pillar”, Mr. Sandhu said the true measure of a city lay not only in its skyline or infrastructure but also in its humanity. He said the challenges like urbanisation, environmental pressures, population growth, and mobility required coordinated action and long-term planning. “If we work collectively, Delhi can emerge as one of the most admired and future-ready capitals in the world,” he said. 

Waiting for their salaries amid heavy police deployment across Noida on Thursday, workers at a Motherson Group facility, which was at the centre of the labour unrest in mid-April, appeared unsure about the promised hike.

Following the unrest over wage demands, with protests turning violent on April 13, the Uttar Pradesh government had announced a hike in minimum wages for unskilled workers by as much as 21%, effective from April 1. Those in municipalities will receive a 15% raise while workers in other areas will see a 9% increase.

On Thursday, when companies such as Motherson were expected to disburse salaries, workers said they neither received their payslips nor saw the revised wages credited to their accounts till evening.

They said delay in salary payments by over a week was a common practice, with most companies, including Motherson, beginning disbursals only after the 7th of every month. Following the protests, the State had mandated that salaries must be paid by the 10th of every month, along with overtime wages calculated on an hourly basis at double rates.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kavita (name changed), a contractual worker employed at Motherson for the past eight years, said she was yet to get her payslip. “Nor was my salary credited to my bank account,” she said. A migrant from Bihar, she is the sole breadwinner in her family.

Working conditions

“While the HR person has assured us that we will be paid the revised wages, workers are not convinced,” she added. Unskilled workers in Uttar Pradesh have been earning a minimum of ₹11,313 per month. As per the revised rates, for those employed in Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar) and Ghaziabad, the amount is now ₹13,690.

According to the Motherson worker, very little has changed since the protests in terms of working conditions. “While a stiff competition tests our abilities and decides whether we receive incentives or promotions, copies of payslips are not given to us. We can only view them at the company office. We were also promised a remuneration of ₹1,500 for full attendance but were never paid,” she said. Several others said there was no documentary evidence guaranteeing most of these promises. They were also told they would be allowed to work overtime on an hourly basis. But workers said currently they could either opt for a full 8-hour shift with overtime provisions or no overtime at all.

Sunil (name changed), who was recruited last month, said, “The company claimed to provide double payment for overtime. However, it is unclear whether they will actually comply with it.”

Vibhuti (name changed), a recent recruit, said he had not been given any joining letter mentioning his salary or any document proving his employment.“I was told I’ll get ₹20,000, but after deductions under various heads, I will get only ₹16,000,” he said.

Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Thursday said the challenge of rapid urbanisation of cities needs to be addressed with commitment and requires technical competence, innovation and ethical clarity.

He was speaking at an event organised by the Delhi Development Authority for its newly appointed officers and staff . “We are living in an era of profound transformation. This occasion is not merely about administrative appointments, it represents a broader shift in governance across our nation,” the L-G said.

Congratulating the new appointees, he said, “You are not only joining a public organisation but also becoming custodians for the development and future of the national capital.” He said Delhi holds a unique position where the expectations from the governance system are high and diverse. “Therefore, your role extends beyond individual assignments and becomes part of a larger framework of urban and national transformation,” Mr. Sandhu said.