Work in progress, says AAP
Besides new promises, party lists assurances from 2015 that remain unfulfilled
NEW DELHI: The 28-point manifesto released by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Tuesday has 11 new assurances; four that are based on schemes that are already operational or have been announced; and 13 that originate from unfulfilled promises or works that are in progress.
These do not include the assurances made by the party through a “guarantee card” released last month – with action plans on education, health care, women security, anti-pollution measures and transport – which chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said should be read along with the manifesto.
The fresh additions include markets in Delhi which will have shops and restaurants operating 24X7, much in line with a recent decision of the Maharashtra cabinet that allowed malls and commercial spaces in non-residential areas to operate round-theclock. This has been a longpending demand of traders for which the Delhi government will have to seek help of the Delhi Police, which comes under the Union government.
Other new additions include a spoken English, personality and soft skill module for students who have completed studies in any Delhi-based school – both government and private – in the last five years, and a scheme aimed at enhancing women participation in economy.
“It will raise their employment opportunities and income potential,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said. “We will undertake initiatives to connect housewives with jobs and business opportunities from or near their homes so that they can contribute to their household income as well as Delhi’s economy.”
New assurances also include “protection” from the Supreme Court-monitored sealing drive which has led to shut down of over thousands of shops across the city .
Jasmine Shah, a member of the manifesto committee, later said the scheme would also include sanitation workers employed with the Bjp-ruled municipal corporations of Delhi. “This will be similar to the government’s existing compensation scheme applicable to martyrs of armed forces who are from Delhi and those belonging to the police and fire services,” said Shah.
Senior party functionaries said the AAP had earlier included assurances such as mental health counselling, dental checkups and protection of government hospital doctors on the receiving end of assault in several incidents involving patient kin. “These issues would come under the larger ambit of making health care facilities world class. Putting everything in the manifesto would have turned that into a voluminous document,” Shah said.
Several assurances were in the 2015 AAP manifesto as well. These include pushing for a Jan Lokpal Bill for Delhi, aimed at establishing an anti-corruption watchdog; the Swaraj Bill, which aims at making people direct participants in the government’s day-to-day decisions; full statehood for Delhi, which will require a constitutional amendment; and regularisation of Delhi’s unauthorised colonies, another common promise in the manifesto of all three parties.
Other than all these, promises of expanding the Delhi Metro, regularisation of contractual employees, constructing “world class” roads and fighting for justice for families of victims of the 1984 anti-sikh riots too find reference in the 2020 manifesto.
Assurances that originate from schemes and plans already announced or operational include doorstep delivery of ration, introducing a patriotic curriculum named “Deshbhakti” in government schools, and a demand to push for inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Praveen Rai, a political analyst with the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, said, “”It is not uncommon for a manifesto to carry forward action plans. Incorporating old promises reflect that the party is open to the idea of disclosing unfulfilled assurances and acting on them. The new assurances reflect that they consulted different stakeholders.”
“For instance, the promises of round-the-clock market spaces, projection of street vendors and compensation for relatives of sanitation workers cater to a wide range of demography. They fairly represent the aspirations of the people of Delhi,” Rai said.