The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday held the first phase of its newly launched ‘Delhi Dialogue’ to woo young voters in the National Capital. The party presented a five-point blueprint focusing on education, job generation, skill development, facilities for sports and providing Wi-Fi across the city.
Addressing a gathering of around 5,000 people at Jantar Mantar, former Delhi CM and party convener Arvind Kejriwal said that if voted to power, the party would make Delhi a drug-free city, open 20 new colleges in partnership with villages and increase employment by almost 80 per cent.While bringing out the basic problems being faced by the youth, the party highlighted ways to address them. The party presented five main points keeping education and employment in the forefront.
Senior party leader Yogendra Yadav said, “Even after obtaining good marks, students don’t get admitted into a college. We will make sure that students get admitted in colleges for sure… No student will miss out on education because of money. Either the students will be given scholarships based on merit or given a loan for which the Government will take responsibility. A student will get five-year time for education and one year more to get a job before he has to pay back the loan.”
Kejriwal said, “Our first step towards assuring that every student gets admission is to start 20 new colleges. We will take land from villages and get into a partnership with them. All kids of the village will get admitted into the college. Further, the colleges will not only teach BA and BSc but also vocational courses where students not only become job seekers but job givers. We will also double seats in the present colleges in Delhi.”
As per the party, around Rs 22 crore will be needed to set up these 20 colleges and Rs 3 crore to run them.
Chief Operating Officer at National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) Atul Behari Bhatnagar said, “We want to launch a Delhi Skill Mission where students get prepared for getting jobs or starting new ones.”
On employment front, Kejriwal said, “We will make incubation centres at all colleges where students with new ideas can work and we will also give them money to start their projects. Additionally, there are 55,000 vacancies in the Government currently, we will fill them. Even a lot of industrial areas have been lying shut for long. They will all be restarted and made operational to generate jobs.”
Sports also got prominent mention in Kejriwal’s speech; he said that the Government will start a sports talent hunt where the best sportspersons will be trained by the Government for international events.
The party also said that the Capital would be drug-free in five years. “We will not let Delhi become another Punjab and will ensure that the youth is free of the prevalent drug abuse,” said Kejriwal, who added that he would also fully equip Delhi with WiFi.
The dialogue to connect with people was convened by party member Ashish Khetan. The party claimed that the blueprint was formed after consultation with the youth and experts in the fields. The next edition of dialogue will be held on November 26, on the day the party will celebrate as the Women’s Safety Day and a blueprint regarding the same will be released.