Will open as many schools as no. of summonses sent to me; education will remove poverty: Kejriwal

Will open as many schools as no. of summonses sent to me; education will remove poverty: Kejriwal

New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said providing quality education is his government’s goal and asserted that he will open as many schools in the city as the number of summonses sent to him by probe agencies.

After laying the foundation stone of a government school building in Mayur Vihar Phase III, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP-led Centre has unleashed all its probe agencies against him as though he was the “biggest terrorist” of the country.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been asked to appear before a city court on February 17 in connection with a complaint case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him. Kejriwal has skipped five summonses issued against him by the federal agency for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.

The chief minister asserted that providing quality education to all children will eradicate poverty within a generation and said his government is opening schools after schools in Delhi to achieve that goal.

The condition of the government schools in the national capital and education was hopeless earlier and the children of poor people had no future, he claimed.

“We have opened so many magnificent schools since the AAP government was formed in Delhi. Several new schools have been inaugurated recently, including in Burari, Rohini and Palam, in which 1.5 lakh children will get education,” he said.

Everyone will get free and quality education in Delhi, the chief minister said, adding that new school buildings are being built replacing the old ones. The new schools will have the best infrastructure, including laboratories, libraries, elevators and activity rooms, he said.

“We are fulfilling Dr (BR) Ambedkar’s dream of providing education to all children,” Kejriwal said.

He said two years ago, his government proposed a scheme for doorstep delivery of ration but the Centre did not allow it. “They obstructed it through the LG. But we are going to do doorstep delivery of ration in Punjab from Saturday,” the AAP leader said.

Once the scheme is launched in Punjab, it could be done in Delhi also and the Centre will not be able to stop it, he added.

The Centre has created many hurdles in the AAP government’s work, saying Delhi is a half state, Kejriwal alleged.

“I said let it be a full state. But, they do not do anything or let me do it,” he said.

Kejriwal rued that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has labelled him as a “thief” even though he provided free electricity, healthcare and education to people in Delhi, while these facilities are expensive and of poor quality in the states ruled by the saffron party.

He asked people who should be considered a thief — the one who provides free facilities to people or those who fail to do so and make things expensive.