'Delhi model' showing direction to entire country: Kejriwal in Assembly

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the Delhi model of governance is showing direction to the entire country in terms of education, health and electricity supply.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the ''Delhi model'' of governance is showing direction to the entire country in terms of education, health and electricity supply. Addressing the House, he slammed the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme as the ''biggest scam''. This came a day after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena asked him to implement the central scheme here.

Before beginning his address, the chief minister asked members of the House to salute his former deputy Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by the CBI in the Delhi excise policy case on February 26 last year.

Speaking on the motion of thanks on the L-G's address, Kejriwal criticised BJP MLAs for causing multiple interruptions during the address. ''We may have differences between the government and opposition. But the House is considered the temple of democracy and it is necessary to maintain decorum here. It has never happened earlier. But this time and before this, the opposition created a ruckus by raising slogans during the L-G's address,'' Kejriwal said. Seven BJP MLAs were suspended for the remainder of the Assembly's Budget session for interrupting the L-G's address.

''It is a matter of defying the decorum of the House. I condemn this and hope that my opposition friends will not commit such acts in the future,'' Kejriwal said. Kejriwal said the L-G, in his address, has mentioned the works done by the Delhi government. ''In the 75 years of Independent India, the works that are being done in Delhi today haven't been done anywhere else in the country,'' he said. ''If such work would have been done (earlier), there wouldn't have been a need for us to join politics. We had no interest in joining politics. Today, the Delhi model is being discussed across the country,'' he added.

Outlining various initiatives of his government in education, health and power sectors, the chief minister said, ''The AAP's Delhi Model is showing a direction to the entire country.'' He asserted that education, health, and power sectors have been instrumental in Delhi's development. These can alleviate the country's situation, he said, adding that around four to five lakh students in Delhi withdrew their admission from private schools and took admission to government schools.

''Since we have provided quality education to children of the poor in Delhi, we can do this in the entire country. What kind of model is being run in the country today? Schools are being shut all over the country. Barring Delhi, the entire country is in a way being pushed towards privatisation of education,'' Kejriwal claimed. ''The country has 10 lakh government schools with 17 crore students. With Rs 5 lakh crore, all government schools can be upgraded into excellent schools.'' He claimed if children get an excellent education, then poverty would be eradicated from the country in five years.

''I am providing a 'Ram-Baan' (infallible) idea to eradicate poverty in five years. It's easier to say 'Garibi hatao' in speeches than done. Different parties said such things, but none had the real intent to eradicate poverty,'' Kejriwal added.

Highlighting the various initiatives of his government in the health sector, the CM said the Delhi government has provided free facilities to everyone. ''I'm extremely sad the BJP left no stone unturned to ruin the hospitals of Delhi in the last two years. The L-G stalled medicines and tests in hospitals through bureaucracy. I had to fight to restart these facilities,'' he said. Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, who improved education and health facilities in Delhi, were put behind bars, he said. ''These people (BJP) keep boasting about the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. But Ayushman Bharat is nothing but a scam, the biggest scandal of the BJP.'' Kejriwal alleged that there are no good government hospitals in BJP-ruled states.

''The healthcare system, just like the education system, is headed towards privatisation. They are intentionally shutting down government hospitals and pushing patients towards private hospitals through these schemes,'' he alleged, hitting out at the BJP-led Union government.

Questioning the efficacy of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Kejriwal said, ''We have made all facilities free in government hospitals. If your Ayushman Bharat scheme is so efficient, why are people from Uttar Pradesh coming to GTB hospital?'' ''Nearly 80 per cent of patients admitted to GTB hospital are from UP although the scheme was implemented in that state over four years ago. Delhi is bearing the burden of the entire nation,'' he said.

He accused the BJP of indulging in dirty politics and ''deliberately'' troubling the people of Delhi for their political agenda.

''You are sinning and God will surely punish you. It will take Rs 5 lakh crore to build hospitals of that stature and it is not a big amount for the Union government,'' he said.

The Delhi BJP, in a statement, accused Kejriwal of being biased against the people of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana, and demeaning repeatedly them by labelling them as a burden on Delhi's health services.

The party condemned the chief minister's remarks and demanded that he withdraw the statement and apologize.

In the Assembly, Kejriwal also spoke about power supply in Delhi.

''Why is the nation still facing power cuts? The BJP has been in power for over 10 years. Why have you still not addressed this issue? Why are farmers devoid of power supply? Why are industries still facing power cuts?'' he posed.

Kejriwal said India has an installed capacity of producing up to four lakh megawatts of power and the peak demand was two lakh megawatts.

''Why do you (BJP) still fail to provide regular power supply then? You can learn from us. We are here to guide you... You can take all the votes... let us serve the people. We'll show you how to serve people,'' he said.

He claimed that only Rs 1.5 lakh crore was needed to make electricity up to 200 units free for everyone in the nation.

''We need a budget of Rs 11.5 lakh crore to change the education and healthcare landscape in India and to effectively manage the power structure. With this, the population of 140 crore people will have easy access to quality education and treatment along with uninterrupted power supply,'' he added.