Speaking at a function to celebrate Independence Day at Chhatrasal Stadium on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a strong pitch for the poor and announced 50 per cent increase in minimum wages for workers in the Capital. Also, he requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other State Governments to increase the minimum wages.
The CM reiterated his demand for full Statehood and said the Centre was chipping at the elected Government’s power through a system which was akin to the national Capital being governed by the colonial “Government of India Act, 1935”.
“Those who have been given less by God, they should be given more by law. Therefore the minimum wages shall be increased. Once the notification is done, the minimum wage in Delhi for unskilled worker will increase from Rs 9,568 to Rs 14,000, for semi-skilled worker from Rs 10,600 to Rs 15,600 and for skilled worker from Rs 11,600 to Rs 17,000,” said the Chief Minister, adding “this will also give a boost to the economy.”
Kejriwal said the decision would be notified following a Cabinet meeting next. “It is on the Government to improve the condition of the poor. Earlier the gap between the rich and the poor grew wider due to format of functioning of the previous Governments,” he said. Kejriwal said in the last year and a half-long rule of their Government, health and education facilities have improved like never before.
“We have given better health facilities to Delhiites, it is a model for the entire India. Earlier, schools were poorly managed, but in the last 1.5 years we have worked for the betterment of Government schools. In the recent parent-teachers meeting, around 12 lakh parents met teachers, and the happiness on their faces knew no bounds,” he added. “In the last one-and-a-half year, we have built 100 mohalla clinics. We have a target of constructing 1,000 such clinics by December this year. Delhi Government has also done well in the health sector,” the CM said.
“My son goes to Noida for schooling. Being the Chief Minister of Delhi, I can easily get admission of my son in any private school in Delhi... I know if I do the same, I will not have the courage to prevent this school from increasing fee. This year, we have not allowed any school to increase school in Delhi.”
He also questioned the Central Government for curbing the rights of Delhi Government. Kejriwal said he couldn’t understand why Delhiites were being treated as “less patriotic”.
“People of Delhi have the power to elect their representative. They have the power to choose their MlAs, but they are made to feel that the value of their votes were less as compared to other States where electors have the right to choose Governments with powers,” he said.
“Under the Government of India Act, 1935, people had right to choose their representatives, but Britishers had powers to run the Government. At present, the Centre has established the system of the Raj-era law in Delhi. “In Delhi, people can select the Chief Minister, MlAs and form Government but they don’t have the power to govern with full rights. Are we half citizensIJ Despite Delhiites giving taxes, I can’t understand as to why the democratic rights are being taken away from the people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
The Chief Minister said people of Delhi have been choosing their Governments, which had been given some rights, for the last 24 years, “but in the last one-and-a-half years powers are being taken away by one by one”. He said despite being left with “very less powers”, his Government has delivered on several fronts which were being discussed across the globe. The AAP Government had released a draft Bill on Statehood earlier this year.
“People are angry over this. Why the value of a Delhi citizen’s vote is less than citizens of other States like Chhattishgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, OdishaIJ In other States, the value of an elector’s vote is 100, but in Delhi, it is 20. Are the people of Delhi less patriotic,” Kejriwal asked.