Capital Spirit
With bold initiatives in education, health and other basic amenities, the state has raised the bar in governance
In June 2015, presenting its first budget, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi doubled the allocation for education to Rs 9,836 crore, making one of its several governance priorities clear. Four years on, the government’s efforts in this area continue to build up steam. Rs 15,133 crore has been earmarked for education in the 2019-20 budget (Rs 60,000 crore).
Since coming to power, the Arvind Kejriwal government has been consistently spending nearly a quarter of its budget on education. This is way more than the average spending of about 16 per cent by all states in the sector. For healthcare, the AAP government
allocated about 14 per cent of its 2019-20 budget, as against the 5 per cent average of states.
The initiatives in education include new classrooms in government schools, free education up to class 12 in government schools, regulating private school fees, directing private schools to refund excess fees charged and scrapping management quota in admissions. “Such high investment in education and health comes from the belief that if we want our country to prosper, we need to invest in our people first,” says Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. “If that means building a few flyovers less, that’s fine.”
The Aam Aadmi
Mohalla Clinics, one of the AAP government’s flagship healthcare schemes providing free doctor consultations, diagnostic tests and medicines, have attended to over 17.7 million patients since launch in June 2015. Delhi has some 300 mohalla clinics, with 80 added to the network in October. The concept has drawn praise from, among others, former UN secretary-generals Kofi Annan and Ban ki-moon. “We need to ensure that citizens are provided basic necessities,” says Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the Dialogue & Development Commission of Delhi, an advisory body of the state government on policies and projects.
The Kejriwal government has also announced free electricity (up to a consumption of 200 units), free water and free public transport for women. While critics have dismissed the initiatives as populist, Shah says: “This government believes that if people are asked to pay taxes for everything, then what is the government doing? If you are not providing citizens a basic quality of life, you are not doing your job as a government. We are not distributing luxury items like mobile phones. These are basic necessities.” ■