The model of the AAP has been mismanagement, false promises, and numerous lies
*Paromita Das
The AAP has a history of mis-governance, making false promises, and telling many lies. Its track record reveals subpar performance almost everywhere. For instance, a failure rate of 75% has been determined for the AAP based on an analysis of its poll manifesto promises. From the 2 lakh promised toilets, not a single one had been constructed; of the 500 new government schools promised, only 25 have been built; of the 1600 promised mohalla clinics, only 189 have been completed; and of the 23 flyovers promised, not a single one has been started as of yet. Only 394 hospital beds have been discovered despite the enormous need for medical facilities and the promise of 3,000 new beds.
Kejriwal’s manifesto promise #17 stated that the party would “Build 2,000 000 Toilets.” According to a Business Today article, the Delhi AAP government is in a terrible situation because not a single toilet has been built despite criticism from the CAG. Similar results are seen with promise number 19, which calls for the construction of “500 new government schools.” Even AAP’s education minister, Manish Sisodia, admits that so far, only 25 schools have been built. Consider the AAP’s Manifesto Promise #9, “Water as a Right,” which called for providing access to clean drinking water and piping water to 14 lakh households.
According to a Reuters report from July 2019 that clearly outlines the disparity in water availability between the rich and the poor in Delhi, the willful use of tankers to address water shortages, the absence of a piped water supply to every household, and the appalling inadequacy of clean drinking water even for the rich, both the measurable targets have not been met. The report also successfully refutes the January 2017 update to the AAP tracker portal’s assertion that all residences, including unauthorised colonies, would receive piped water connections by December 2017.
Tejpal Singh, a political activist, filed an RTI in 2019 that uncovered numerous instances of poor governance. According to a report on teacher shortages and school construction, there were 6,004 teachers working in Delhi’s public schools as of September 30, 2019. Additionally, there were 15,702 open positions as of September 30, 2019, compared to 9,598 teacher positions on February 1, 2015. Although the AAP had pledged to build 500 new schools, only one had actually received construction approval in the previous four years. Only 203 of Delhi’s 1027 government schools have a Headmaster or a Principal, according to a statement from the NCPCR, which has asked the AAP Delhi government for an explanation.
Phoney promises on DTC buses
In relation to DTDC Buses’ pledge to purchase 5,000 new buses, an RTI response revealed that between 2015 and 2019, the number of DTDC buses operating on Delhi roads decreased from 4,705 buses to 3,796 buses. A representative of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) signed the RTI response. Regarding hospitals and healthcare, a second RTI response from the Delhi government’s Directorate of Health Services revealed that no new hospitals were constructed between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2019. The AAP administration is also far from adding 30,000 new hospital beds in Delhi.
Deaths caused by poor governance – COVID19 (1st & 2nd waves)
Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the AAP and the Chief Minister of Delhi, openly brags that his administration promised 1,600 “Mohalla Clinics,” but only 189 of them actually exist as of the publication of a report in 2019. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister, opened the first clinic of its kind at Peeragarhi for Rs 20 lakh. Delhi would soon have 1,000 such clinics, he had stated. A record-breaking medical oxygen crisis has hit Delhi amid a raging wave of Covid-19 cases. While many Covid-19 patients have passed away while awaiting beds with oxygen support, at least 32 families claim their loved ones passed away in hospitals due to an oxygen shortage.
However, the crisis also appears to have been brought on by its failings, such as the inability to manage logistics or the absence of an allocation plan to hospitals. The Delhi government claims that the oxygen shortage it is currently experiencing is due to inadequate allocation and supply by the Central government.
Recently, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, had promised to build new hospitals, but on August 2 it was revealed through an RTI response that this had not happened.
Amit Kumar, a Twitter user, posted a response to the RTI response he received from the AAP-led Delhi government’s Health Department in response to his request for information about how many hospitals the Delhi government had constructed between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022. The RTI request was made to determine whether or not Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal kept his promise to build seven hospitals in October last year.
I had filed an RTI to check the claim of @ArvindKejriwal, who said that 7 hospitals have been constructed in last six months.
RTI reveals 0 (ZERO) hospitals have been built in last six months.👏👏 pic.twitter.com/tovW9ab632
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) August 2, 2022
In his RTI application, Amit had four questions. The first query concerned the new hospitals that the AAP Government would be building in Delhi between July 1, 2021, and July 2, 2022. In response, the Directorate General of Health Services’ Public Information Officer stated that no hospitals were built in Delhi by the Delhi Government between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022.
Amit also inquired about the number of patients seen in Delhi Mohalla Clinics during the same time period, the number of new beds added by the AAP-led government in Delhi Government hospitals, and the number of ambulances added by the Kejriwal-led government in Delhi State Government hospitals.
The Directorate General of Health Services then forwarded these inquiries to the relevant departments for responses.
I haven’t seen a politician lie this blatantly without having their statements verified; Amit said. Nobody in the media calls him out. He has broken every promise he has ever made, but no one ever calls attention to this.
So I’ve decided to expose all of his lies, he continued, “because it appears that he has bought all the fact checkers and the vast majority of journalists through ads in their channels.”
Seven hospitals were promised by CM Kejriwal
CM Kejriwal stated that the Delhi government would be building seven new hospitals with a combined capacity of 6800 beds in October 2021 at an event following the laying of the cornerstone for a government hospital that was planned to be constructed in Shalimar Bagh. In six months, those hospitals were supposed to be finished.
According to a Times Now article from February 2022, the hospitals were supposed to be finished by mid-2022, but the work was delayed. According to the report, the first hospital would be finished by June, and the remaining six would be completed by September. There were no reports of a hospital being opened by the Delhi government in June, as far as we could tell.
The Delhi government scrapped more ambulances than it added new ones
Another RTI request made by Gujarati activist Sujit Patel in June 2022 revealed that the Kejriwal administration had not bought a single “patient transport ambulance” capable of transporting patients to hospitals between April 2014 and April 2022. During the same time period, the Kejriwal administration sold nine of these patient transport ambulances for scrap at a cost of Rs 23,659 each.
The Kejriwal administration purchased a total of 10 “Advanced Life Support Ambulances,” or ambulances with oxygen, intensive care units, and ECG machines for treating patients inside.
The Kejriwal administration sold a total of 20 advanced life support ambulances for scrap during the same time period for a price of Rs 75,246 per ambulance.
This demonstrated that after 2014, the Health Department of the Government of Delhi’s fleet of ambulances did not grow. In actuality, that number significantly decreased.
Punjab Assembly Election, Kejriwal made false promises
In the most recent Punjab Assembly Election, Kejriwal made a number of promises, including giving women Rs 1,000 per month and providing free electricity. When asked how they would handle their finances, he responded that they would cut costs in three areas: sand mining, excise policy, and corruption. The same AAP leader, however, demanded from the Central government a special package of Rs 50,000 crore each for two years so that Punjab can become self-sufficient after two years after winning the election on the basis of giveaways. It asked the Centre for CCL for Rs 28,151 crore.
Kejriwal’s model of governance calls for high-performance dole and subsidy issuance that may only require paperwork to be signed in the comfort of one’s home office, but the failure rate is alarming whenever issues involve administrative implementation or coordination with other entities. A number of findings, CAG reports, and RTI responses reveal unfavourable information about the Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal. These demonstrate that the AAP government has not only broken many of its election promises, but has also lied to its constituents.
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