NOIDA: Balwinder Kumar, the IAS officer who steered the Noida Authority through the land acquisition crisis two years ago, has been appointed vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority. Kumar will take the reins from D Diptivilasa. Before his appointment, Kumar was development commissioner with the Union textiles ministry.

A 1981-batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Kumar served two stints as chairman-cum-CEO of the Noida Authority in 2007 and 2011. The Mayawati-led BSP regime had sent Kumar to Noida in July 2011 when the land acquisition crisis was at its peak and agitations and legal cases lodged by farmers had plunged a slew of development and housing projects in the city into uncertainty. Kumar replaced Mohinder Singh, a close confidante of Mayawati, as the protests that erupted in Greater Noida began engulfing Noida as well.

Kumar’s primary assignment was to placate the farmers and negotiate a solution. An astute administrator with tact and an understanding of ground realities, Kumar managed both. Speaking to TOI on Monday, Kumar said he would take charge of DDA within the next couple of days.

“Governance at the DDA will be conducted in the same manner as had been done at the Noida Authority. My priority will be ensuring a speedy delivery system for the common man, who has various expectations from the DDA,” Kumar said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/New-DDA-chief-eased-land-row/articleshow/29132419.cms

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