Will work in tandem with elected representatives: Radhakrishnan

Nagpur: New municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B on Friday said he would ensure better coordination with the people, elected representatives and the civic administration to deliver better civic amenities.
“Administration and elected representatives work as different wheels of one institution. No institution can function without proper coordination with elected representatives,” Radhakrishnan said while interacting with media persons after assuming charge as the 78th municipal commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
Refusing to directly answer query about his predecessor ignoring elected representatives, Radhakrishnan said he believe in working for the development of the city and working in tandem with elected representatives, which would directly benefit the citizens.
“Being the state’s second capital, my focus will be on the city’s overall development,” he said adding that his immediate priority was Covid-19 management. In the last 25 days, the number of Covid-19 cases and rising death toll are a cause for concern for the new civic chief. Radhakrishnan said he learnt about these disturbing facts during his first review meeting of the Covid-19 management in the city.
“An analysis of the Covid death toll revealed that in most cases patients reported to the hospitals in advanced stages resulting in loss of life within 48 hours of admission,” he said. As there is no treatment for Covid-19, the primary objective for the NMC will be to bring down the toll. Treatment protocols need to be improved, said Radhakrishnan who has experience of handling Covid-19 cases in Mumbai’s Cooper and peripheral hospitals. According to him, patients with comorbidities need to be extra cautious.
The new civic chief assured to improve the dashboard for Covid-19 treatment facilities in the city. He said he would try to highlight the availability of beds in different hospitals in the city and assured to improve facilities at different testing centres. He said the NMC will continue to keep a tab on private hospitals assigned to treat Covid-19 patients.
Additional municipal commissioner Jalaj Sharma, who was also present, pointed out many people were going in for tests almost daily or quite often. “Another cause of concern is that many citizens were hiding their personal information,” he claimed and appealed to citizens not to hide information while testing for Covid-19 as it impacted their health.
Radhakrishnan admitted NMC’s financial condition was grim and said the situation in other government departments was no different due to the pandemic. He said he would review NMC’s financial condition and expenditure while prioritizing the works.