Caught in the cross-fire over transfer and posting of bureaucrats and a host of other contentious issues, the Arvind Kejriwal Government set to complete one year in office this week has been credited with a large number of decisions which have directly benefitted a large number of people in the national Capital. Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers will mark their first year in office with a “telethon” in which they will answer phone calls from the people of Delhi, take their feedback and offer them a report card.
The Chief Minister and his Cabinet also planned to take calls on stage at a grand function. According to sources, the concept may have been inspired by the Hindi film Nayak, where a journalist-turned-Chief Minister takes phone calls at a public platform while his PA jots down instructions on the spot.
The recent 15-day experiment on odd-even car formula has set a debate on whether the scheme should be implemented in future as well. Buoyed by the first experiment, the Government in all seriousness is considering to implement the scheme in near future as well. This is one of the most successful venture of AAP Government. In a bid to promote public transport, the AAP Government has decided to organise car free day on 22 of every month.
Officials say that the Kejriwal Government should also be given credit to put pressure on the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission not to hike power tarrif in the current fiscal year.
Also, the Government kept on with its poll promise and started dismantling the BRT corridor, which had given a major relief to the motorists in South Delhi, who otherwise had to face massive traffic jams at peak hours. The Government’s decision to provide `1 crore compensation to men in uniform who sacrifice their lives on duty has earned it wide appreciation across political spectrum in the city.
The Kejriwal Government was also quick enough to provide enhanced compensation of `50,000 per hectare to farmers who had lost their crop due to bad weather. The AAP Government also claimed to have saved `350 crore than the sanctioned amount in the construction of three flyovers. The money saved in the construction of flyovers is being utilised to provide free medicine and diagnostic tests — X-Ray, ultra sound, etc — in all Government hospitals.
The Government’s big hit has been its air-conditioned swanky mohalla clinic in jhuggi-jhopri clusters. The Government plans to open 1,000 such clinics in the near future. The tenders to this effect have already been issued and work on it is expected to start very soon. The Kejriwal Government has also started free medicines to patients in Government-run all hospitals excluding GB Pant Hospital.
Soon after assuming office in February last year, the Chief Minister’s first and major announcement came by way of subsidy of 50 per cent to those households which had been consuming electricity up to 400 units every month. After power, the AAP Government gave free water to those households which had been consuming up to 20,000 litres every month.
Besides, the Government also plans to add 8,000 classrooms to the existing Government schools by July this year. In addition, 45 new schools are also being constructed. The Government had already doubled its budgetary allocation on education. “Ours is the first Government which has had the courage to challenge the management quota in private schools, which we are trying to discipline,” said a senior AAP functionary.
The Kejriwal administration is also being credited with taking measures for ease of doing business. A senior officer said: “The events management industry had gone out of Delhi, but they have come back because all procedures have been simplified. All documents, such as marriage and death certificates, can be secured online and are delivered on the basis of self-declaration. We have stopped verification process.”
The AAP Government had organised a similar event after crossing the 100-day mark. The entire Cabinet compared their achievements with those of the Narendra Modi Government in the same span.