Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he will provide free electricity across the country, scrap Agnipath scheme for the military, provide 2 crore jobs, and introduce minimum support price (MSP) scheme for farmers if he forms the government after the Lok Sabha elections.
Promising to replicate the Delhi and Punjab models across India, Kejriwal also promised to carry out nationwide drives to modernise government schools and hospitals across the country.
Making these announcements at a press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal further said that his government will also free the Indian territory that has been occupied by China.
Kejriwal, however, stated that it is his guarantees at the moment and he has not discussed then with his coalition partners in the INDIA bloc.
“These guarantees are being issued as ‘Kejriwal’s guarantees’. I have not talked about them with our friends in the INDIA coalition, but I believe that no one will have an issue with them considering the kind of guarantees they are,” said Kejriwal in Hindi.
Here are the 10 guarantees that Kejriwal announced:
1. 24 hours electricity, 200 units free
Kejriwal announced that he would provide 24 hours electricity across the country. He further said that the 200-units-free model of Delhi will be extended to the entire country.
Explaining the proposal, Kejriwal said that the issue that India faces is the poor management of electricity distribution as India’s production is in excess of peak demand during the summer. He said that the guarantee will cost Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
2. Improving government schools
Kejriwal said that he would improve government schools across the country the way he did in Delhi.
For this, Kejriwal said Rs 5 lakh crore will be needed over five years. Of these, the provincial and central governments will bear half the burden each.
3. Improving government hospitals
In line with the Delhi model, Kejriwal said every nook and corner in the country will have a ‘mohalla clinic’.
Kejriwal further said that he will strengthen healthcare infrastructure and will make healthcare free for everyone. He said such free healthcare will not be provided by government insurance schemes. Without naming any government or scheme, he dubbed such government health insurance schemes as a “scam”.
For this guarantee, Kejriwal said Rs 5 lakh crore will be required and the provincial and central governments will each bear Rs 2.5 crore expenditure each.
4. Freeing Indian land occupied by China
Kejriwal promised to free the Indian land occupied by China and dubbed it “Rashtrahit Sarvopari (National Interest Foremost)” guarantee.
Kejriwal said that his government will use diplomatic as well as military steps to free the Indian land from Chinese occupation. He said he would give the military a “free hand to whatever it wants” to remove Chinese from Indian soil.
“China has captured our land. Our government says no one has come. Everyone knows. The whole world knows. It is the age of satellite. Everyone knows how China came and captured our territory,” said Kejriwal.
5. Abolishing Agnipath scheme
Kejriwal announced that his government will abolish the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment in military.
Under the Agnipath scheme, soldiers dubbed Agnivir are being recruited in the military for a period of four years. Of the recruits, only 25% will be retained and the rest will be let go.
Kejriwal has said that he will make all soldiers recruited under the scheme permanent.
6. MSP for farmers
In line with the Swaminath Committee’s report, MSP will be implemented for farmers, announced Kejriwal.
7. Full statehood to Delhi
Kejriwal announced that his government will grant full statehood to Delhi.
Currently, Delhi is a union territory (UT) and Delhi Police is controlled by the central government, not the Delhi government.
8. 2 crore new jobs a year
Flagging unemployment as a national issue, Kejriwal said his government will address it by producing 2 crore jobs a year.
9. Anti-corruption drive against BJP’s ‘washing machine’
Kejriwal said that he will carry out an anti-corruption drive across the country against the ‘washing machine’ of the BJP.
10. Simplification of GST, ease of doing business
Kejriwal announced that his government will simply the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and improve the ease of doing business in the country. He said it will help honest businesspersons and traders in the country.
Kejriwal further said that he will simplify administrative and legal procedures that will improve the ease of doing business in the country.
He further said, “Our target will be to leave China behind economically.”
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