70 Point Action Plan
Delhi Manifesto 2015
Table of Contents
Why Vote for the Aam Aadmi Party?………………………………………………………… 3
Swaraj in Action: Governance By The People………………………………………….. 7
Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Swaraj Bill………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
Full Statehood For Delhi…………………………………………………………………………. 8
The Needs of Daily Life: Electricity, Water and Sanitation…………………. 9
A Plan to Solve Delhi’s Energy Crisis…………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Electricity Bills Will Be Halved………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
CAG Audit of Discoms………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Delhi Government’s Power Station……………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
Introduce Competition Amongst Discoms………………………………………………………………………….. 10
Clean Water in Every Home……………………………………………………………………… 11
Free Lifeline Water……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
Universal Access To Water…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Fair And Transparent Pricing Policy…………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
Commitment to Water Quality……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
Water Accounting and Auditing………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
Crackdown on Water Mafia…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
Plug Leakages and Stop Theft…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
Making Sewage Systems Work, Building Community Toilets……………….. 16
Better Waste Management, a Cleaner Delhi…………………………………………. 17
Education: A Means for Empowerment………………………………………………….. 18
Empowering Teachers……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
Supporting Students………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
Excellent Schools…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
Public Healthcare For Public Benefit…………………………………………………… 20
Women’s Rights and Safety……………………………………………………………………… 21
Honouring our Senior Citizens, Policemen and Ex-Servicemen……………. 23
Strong Legal Framework and Fraternity For Swift Justice………………. 23
Empowering Delhi’s Marginalized Areas……………………………………………….. 24
Delhi’s Villages To Be Given Special Attention……………………………………………………………… 24
Better Facilities and Regularization of Unauthorized Colonies……………………… 25
Better Facilities and In Situ Development of Slums…………………………………………………… 26
True Settlement in Resettlement Colonies……………………………………………………………………… 27
Economic Vision………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
Protecting the Common Man from Rising Prices………………………………………………………….. 28
Employment Generation in Delhi………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29
Facilitating Trade in Delhi…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 29
Improvement in service provision in Industrial Areas……………………………………………….. 30
Opposition to Contractualization of Labour………………………………………………………………….. 31
Social Security for Workers in the Unorganized Sector…………………………………….. 32
Licenses and Permanent Spaces for Street Vendors……………………………………………….. 32
Delhi: The Wi-Fi City………………………………………………………………………………….. 33
Delhi: The Drug-Free City………………………………………………………………………… 33
Transforming Delhi’s Transportation…………………………………………………. 33
Convenient and Inexpensive Public Transport……………………………………………………………….. 34
Improvement in Roads and Provisions for Non-Motorized Transport………….. 34
Fair Arrangement for Auto-Drivers and Auto-Commuters…………………………………… 34
Delhi’s e-rickshaw drivers will be protected…………………………………………………………………. 35
Improving Delhi’s Environment………………………………………………………………. 35
Yamuna: Ending Pollution and Encroachment………………………………………………………………… 35
Reducing Pollution, Saving the Ridge………………………………………………………………………………….. 36
Social Justice…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37
Social Welfare……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
Protecting the Constitutional Rights of the Vulnerable…………………………………….. 37
Life Of Dignity to the Safai Karamchari………………………………………………………………………………. 37
Peace, Justice and Equality for Minorities………………………………………………………………………. 38
Justice for the Victims of 1984………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 38
Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disability………………………………………………………. 38
Promoting Sports and Culture………………………………………………………………. 39
Big Change without Big Spending…………………………………………………………… 39
Why Vote for the Aam Aadmi Party?
The 2013 Delhi election was a significant milestone in the journey towards an alternate politics. People demonstrated a strong desire for a participatory government under the able leadership of a fearless, honest and clean Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP government’s tenure was both a learning experience and an eye opener. It showed that a government driven by transparency, clear objectives and integrity can tackle issues central to people’s lives, such as access to affordable electricity and clean water, a corruption-free space to ply one’s trade or business, quality education that gives every child the opportunity to make a better life, and healthcare that is essential for human development
However, Delhi was unable to realize its dream of Swaraj due to the obstructive tactics of two national parties whose politics is driven by non-transparent sources of funding and the interests of crony capitalists. Hence, our appeal to you this time is: Vote decisively for yourself, vote for the Aam Aadmi Party to empower yourself for a better future.
The 7 February 2015 election in Delhi is not just another exercise to vote a new government to power. It presents an opportunity for us to fundamentally transform politics in our country – an opportunity to redefine the relationship between citizens and their representatives. The winds of change are blowing and the mandate is yours to give. Make a pact with AAP and see Delhi lead the country to an age of renewed hope and change.
For political parties, elections also mean placing their manifestos before the people as a statement of intent. Over time party manifestoes have been reduced to insincere pledges promising everything to everybody, with very little follow-up or delivery after attainment of power. It has made the common man lose faith in political processes. However, this is where AAP crucially differs from other parties because for us politics is an interactive process, a constant dialogue. Soon after the Delhi Vidhan Sabha was dissolved in the first week of November 2014, the party launched Delhi Dialogue, a unique initiative of drawing up the party manifesto by forging a partnership between the party and the citizens of Delhi. Delhi Dialogue is a policy-level intervention through which academicians, businesses, bureaucrats, elected officials, scholars of national and international repute, experts from various sectors and, most importantly, the Aam Aadmi of Delhi have come together to draw an action plan for Delhi’s future – their future. It is our belief that an honest, accountable and responsive political party must seek out people’s participation, tapping into their immense potential in the issues of governance.
After hundreds of citizens’ meetings, round tables with subject experts, responses gained from thousands of feedback forms, online comments, emailed suggestions, Whatsapp messages, Tweets and Facebook comments, AAP has drawn up a 70 point action plan for all sections of Delhi’s population – youth, women, traders, businesses, entrepreneurs, rural and urban villages, safai karmacharis, minorities, unauthorized and resettlement colonies, JJ clusters, RWAs, housing cooperatives and group housing societies. The perspectives and aspirations of Delhi’s citizens informed the debate on issues of power, water, health, education, housing, sanitation, employment, transport, social justice, women’s rights and safety, among others.
The aim of the Delhi Dialogue was to create an action plan for a Delhi that would reflect the aspirations of people from all walks of life:
- A Delhi that provides employment to all
- A Delhi provides high quality education to all
- A Delhi that ensures excellent healthcare to all
- A Delhi that is safe for women
- A Delhi that keeps pace with an ever increasing population’s demands for more roads, transport and traffic systems.
- A Delhi that provides affordable electricity and clean drinking water to all
- A Delhi that provides essential services to all its citizens.
- A Delhi that takes pride in the river Yamuna brought alive by clean water and beautiful riverbanks.
- A Delhi where all communities live together, secure in a social fabric that is inclusive and peaceful.
- A Delhi that is pollution-free; and
- A Delhi where the citizen is made an equal stakeholder and voice in the city’s progress.
Truly, a New Delhi.
Delhi is a microcosm of the entire country. It is a city of government officials, corporate executives, lawyers, traders, teachers and students. It is also home to millions of labourers, domestic workers, rickshaw-pullers and street vendors. Delhi welcomes people from every part of India with open arms. This city belongs to those who have lived here for generations and equally to those who have come here in search of livelihood. A government of and for the people needs to craft policies that reflect the interests of all – the rich, the poor and the middle class. That is our aim indeed. The Aam Aadmi’s well being is central to the policy priorities of the Aam Aadmi Party.
In the Delhi that the Aam Aadmi Party dreams of, every resident will have a secure livelihood, and adequate income to live a life of dignity, electricity at a fair price, enough water to fulfil s daily needs and access to quality education and healthcare services. We want Delhi to be a safe, secure and world-class city.
Attaining True Swaraj
The issues of governance and public service delivery in Delhi are complex. We believe they can be addressed only through the idea of Swaraj, which means self-governance, not merely good governance. In real terms it means that people would, and must, have a significant say in policies that affect their lives and not limit themselves to casting their votes once every five years. In Delhi’s context, there are two dimensions to Swaraj:
- At the macro level, Swaraj means full statehood for Delhi and that is the aim of AAP. This will ensure that the elected representatives of the people of Delhi will have decision-making powers at par with other states in India.
- At the micro level, Swaraj means the transformation of Delhi’s governance structure in a way that communities become the primary locus of decision making for matters that have a direct bearing on their lives.
Translating Swaraj Into Action
The Aam Aadmi Party will operationalize the idea of Swaraj through the constitution of Mohalla Sabhas:
- By Mohalla Sabha we mean an open assembly of all the adults in a locality/colony
- The Mohalla Sabha will be empowered to take decisions on issues concerning the locality and monitor the functioning of public institutions in the area such as Primary Health Centres, schools and Public Distribution System shops, among others.
- By deciding on local concerns the Mohalla Sabha will complement the state government that shall take decisions on a macro level.
- Transparency and accountability will be introduced into the decision-making processes of the at all levels of the government.
Clean Politics
The Aam Aadmi Party has entered electoral politics with the aim of demonstrating that the practice of clean politics is not only desirable, it is very much possible. Electoral politics in India today is more about making gains through money, muscle-power and nepotism and less about a contest between competing politics and policies. Political parties and candidates spend unimaginable sums of money on their election campaigns, most of which is unaccounted for, viewing it as an investment for future gains, namely access to even larger sums of public funds. The Aam Aadmi Party has taken the following steps to ensure that the principles of transparency in politics are upheld in public life:
- We upload every detail of political donations received and expenses incurred on our website. No candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party will spend a single rupee more than the official limit set by the Election Commission.
- Only one party member from a family can be an office bearer or candidate of the party.
- If we find any evidence of acts of corruption or criminality against a candidate, his/her candidature is withdrawn with immediate effect. During the 2013 assembly elections the party withdrew its candidate from Rajouri garden on the eve of the polls, preferring to opt out of one precious seat in a closely contested election.
- Our government will legislate the Delhi Janlokpal Act. The Act’s jurisdiction will bring all levels of the Delhi Government within its ambit including the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs and government officials.
No VIP culture
Aam Aadmi Party is committed to putting and end to the ‘VIP culture’ in order to revive the vibrant ethos of the common man in democratic politics.
The VIP culture has become a part of the political establishment in our country – expansive government bungalows, red-beaconed cars and excessive police security. This creates barriers, both physical and symbolic, between the Aam Aadmi and their representatives. A dishonest and opaque government erects walls between itself and citizens. An honest government brings down those walls.
All 70 candidates of our party have signed affidavits regarding the following to ensure that there are no barriers between the Aam Aadmi and their elected representatives:
- No MLA will travel in a red-beacon car.
- No MLA will live in an expansive government bungalow. If necessary, only a small government house would be allotted.
- No MLA will take excessive police security.
The issues of governance and public service delivery in Delhi are complex. However, we have faith in a politics of integrity and in the collective wisdom of people to find solutions to issues that concern them.
Through this manifesto the party is making reaffirming its commitment to the common man – a commitment that will stand the test of time, a commitment to transform a corrupt political establishment, a commitment that will bring the Aam Aadmi back to the centre-stage of our democracy.
Swaraj in Action: Governance By The People
Having emerged from the anti-corruption movement, AAP is committed to rooting out corruption from the political system. It will take the following steps toward this end:
Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill
The Aam Aadmi Party resolves to pass the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill. The provisions of this Bill will be as follows:
- All public officials (including the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs) of the Delhi government shall fall within the purview of the investigation of the Lokpal. Public officials of Delhi will be required to furnish an annual declaration of assets. Any undeclared assets will be liable for confiscation.
- Any public official found guilty of corruption would be removed from his/her position and prosecuted. Their property will be confiscated.
- Time bound investigation shall be introduced in corruption cases. Charges of corruption against Ministers, MLAs and Secretaries will be completed in a time frame ranging between six months and a year. The Delhi Lokpal will have administrative, fiscal and investigative autonomy.
- A Citizens’ Charter shall be introduced in all government offices in Delhi. This charter will ensure a time-bound delivery of services by government departments. Grievance redressal mechanisms will be introduced and any violation of the Citizen’s Charter will invite penalties.
- Whistleblowers will be provided protection and rewarded for their contribution. Honest officials shall be encouraged and protected.
Swaraj Bill
One of the first things the AAP will do after forming the government is to legislate the Swaraj Act that will devolve power directly to the people and contain provisions for the formation of the Mohalla Sabhas. This will go a long way in curbing corruption at the local level. The implementation will be as follows:
- Delhi has 272 municipal wards. Each ward will be divided into 10-15 neighborhood units or
- Each mohalla will have 500-1000 families. The general assembly of voters of a particular mohalla will be called a Mohalla Sabha.
3.The law will make it mandatory for each mohalla to have a Mohalla Sabha at least once a month. Numerous government procedures create unnecessary complexity, providing opportunities for corruption. There will be a serious effort towards simplification of all governmental procedures.
- We will promote the use of information technology to promote transparency and reduce corruption in government functioning.
Notices shall be sent to each household about the meetings of Mohalla Sabha. People will be encouraged to participate in large numbers. In the Mohalla Sabhas, the people will take decisions about the issues of their mohalla, while the state government will make decisions on issues at the state level. The Mohalla Sabha Secretariat will have a small staff to implement the decisions made by the Mohalla Sabha.
- The Citizen Local Area Development (LAD) Fund will be provided to every Mohalla Sabha and Resident Welfare Association. Every Mohalla Sabha would be given untied funds every year for developmental activities in its area and the autonomy to utilize the funds as it sees fit. The cleanliness and maintenance of mohalla parks, streetlights and streets would be under them.
- Payment for any government work would be made only when the Mohalla Sabha is satisfied with the work done.
- The Mohalla Sabha would also have the power to cancel the license of a ration shop seen to be indulging in irregularities and grant the license to a new distributor.
- Important documents such as birth, death, caste and income certificates of people in the mohalla would be obtained from the Mohalla Sabha secretariat. No more visits to the SDM office and having to pay bribes to accomplish these tasks.
- The list of beneficiaries of government schemes such as widow pensions, old-age pensions and so on, would be prepared by the Mohalla Sabha with common consent
- Opening an alcohol shop or outlet in the neighborhood would require a no-objection-certificate from the Mohalla Sabha with the women in the neighborhood having the final say. The Mohalla Sabha would monitor the local government school and primary health center.
- In a few years, when the functioning of Mohalla Sabhas becomes streamlined we visualize Mohalla Sabhas participating in the law-making process on certain subjects which shall be listed. When the State Assembly considers a Bill on subjects in this list, a copy of the Bill would be sent to the Mohalla Sabhas and their opinions would be sought. Conversely, Mohalla Sabhas could propose to the State Assembly to make a certain law on one of these subjects.
- In a few years, when the Mohalla Sabhas become streamlined, they can start participating in the law-making process. If and when the State Assembly considers a Bill on those subjects, Mohalla Sabhas would be expected to study the Bill and give their opinion. Conversely, they could propose to the State Assembly to make a certain law on one of these subjects.
Full Statehood For Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party will put its ensure strength behind the demand for full statehood for Delhi for a number of reasons. :
- Since DDA would be fully under the authority of the Delhi government, decisions regarding land use, establishing new colonies, regularization of unauthorized colonies, among others, would be taken by elected representatives of the people and not by officials of the Central government far removed from the people.
- Police and ‘law and order’ would be under the control of the Delhi state government. As in all other states, the Delhi state government would have authority over the police department on all matters such as appointment and transfers of police personnel. MCD, too, would be freed from the control of the Central Government. Planning the utilization of resources in areas such as health and education will become far more efficient than it is at present.
The Needs of Daily Life: Electricity, Water and Sanitation
A Plan to Solve Delhi’s Energy Crisis
Our objective will be to provide for the basic energy needs of all its citizens. Delhi’s energy requirements have increased drastically in the last decade. The Capital’s electricity consumption increased from 9287 million units in 2000 to 21,700 million units in 2011. However, in the same period the local generation of electricity reduced drastically from 12074 million units to 8007 million units. This has made Delhi dependent on other states for electricity. Further, Delhi Transco, Delhi’s public sector power transmission company has not invested enough in infrastructure to improve its transmission efficiency and has accumulated unpaid bills worth Rs. 3500 crore to be paid by private electricity distribution companies (discoms). Distribution companies keep asking for and receive higher tariff without a performance audit.
In addition, grave irregularities have been found in the accounts of several private discoms. For instance:
- The presence of a powerful nexus between the BJP and power distribution companies was revealed, when the Delhi BJP Chief was found to be owning a company that had bagged a contract from power discoms to install meters in Delhi.
- Discoms presented a loss of Rs.630 crore in 2012. However, when the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) audited these accounts it was found that these discoms ha d actually made a profit of Rs.3577 crores.
- In 2008, discoms showed Delhi Airport and Delhi Jal Board as having no consumption of electricity! It is evident that these companies were trying to show a reduced income.
- In 2010, a discom bought equipment worth Rs.800 crore for an inflated sum of Rs. 1200 crore its partner concern. Clearly a case of inflating expenses to put forth a much higher figure of costs incurred.
- It was found that many consumers were shown as having zero bills despite the fact that they had deposited a bill payment. Despite this discrepancy, the DERC did not take any action.
- In the past three years, discoms have been purchasing electricity at high rates, and selling it at subsidised rates to their partner concerns, thereby showing inflated losses.
Privatisation was seen as a solution to curbing transmission and distribution losses, leading to lower electricity tariffs. However, in the last decade, losses have come down by 45 percent during this decade power tariffs have gone up by 350 percent! Hence, our promise of reducing consumer electricity expenditure by 50 percent by easing the burden passed on to them by discoms.
Electricity Bills Will Be Halved
Our government will keep its promise of reducing electricity bills by half. A more efficient, transparent and accountable system to regulate and audit the power generation and distribution companies is the need of the hour and AAP will do everything within its command to achieve that. Discoms should purchase power from economical sources and wriggle out of expensive and unsustainable Power Purchase Agreements. AAP will take measures to provide relief from rising power bills, namely generating cheaper electricity, improving transmission efficiency, fixing billing defects and correcting meter defects.
CAG Audit of Discoms
We will conduct a comprehensive performance audit of discoms by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Discoms shall also be brought within the ambit of the RTI act. We will ensure that the citizens of Delhi do not have to bear the burden of soaring power tariffs. Initially we will provide subsidy that would go not to the power discoms but to Delhi Transco, a state-owned transmission company which has unpaid bills of Rs 3,500 crore to be paid by the discoms. This money will help Delhi Transco upgrade and augment its transmission capacity, which is in a bad state at present. The lack of funds at Transco’s disposal is one of the main reasons for the frequent power outages in the state. After the audit results are tabled in the assembly, power tariffs would be restructured.
Delhi Government’s Power Station
We will put up Delhi’s own power station at the pithead and comprehensively solve Delhi’s electricity problem in the long run by being able to meet peak power consumption of 6200MW. We will also ensure that the Rajghat and Bawana plant are efficiently utilized.
Introduce Competition Amongst Discoms
AAP reiterates the promise made in its December 2013 Delhi manifesto of providing consumers the right to choose between electricity providers. We will introduce competitive distribution, which will provide better services and lead to lower tariffs.
Delhi To Be Made A Solar City
AAP will facilitate a phased shift to renewable and alternate sources of energy. Incentives will be given to households, housing societies, enterprise and industry to gradually switch over to renewable energy. We are committed to ensuring that 20 percent of Delhi’s energy needs are met through solar energy by 2025
- AAP will subsidize home units or waiving taxes on solar devices and batteries will encourage solar power.
- For slums and low-income settlements, a mapping exercise will be done to identify locations within the communities for solar power centers.
- People will also have the option of selling extra solar power to the grid, thus upping their incomes.
- Our target is to meet 20 per cent of Delhi’s electricity needs through solar energy in the next 10 years. . We will provide incentives and subsidies to promote solar energy
Clean Water in Every Home
The National Capital Territory of Delhi is a geographically small and largely urbanized city-state with an ever-growing population in numerical terms and density as well. However, Delhi is largely dependent for its water supply on sources over which it exercises little or no control. The city gets its water from the Ganga basin, Yamuna sub-basin and Indus basin all of which are in crisis, suffering depletion due to accelerated demand. There has to be an efficient solution for 1.8 crore people of Delhi who deserve a regular supply of clean water with effective sewage treatment.
The population of Delhi increased from 138 lakh in 2001 to 167 lakh in 2011, which is expected to rise to 230 lakh in 2021. Out of 33.41 lakh households in Delhi, only about 20 lakh have piped water supply system. Over 50 lakh people who do not get piped water in their homes are dependent on other sources like tankers, borewells, canals and ponds.
The depleting ground water level in Delhi has become a matter of serious concern. At some places in South and South West Delhi, the water table has gone down to 30-70 meters below the ground level. The quality of underground reserves is deteriorating. While the salinity of ground water is increasing in Southwest and North-West Delhi, fluoride concentrations are higher than the prescribed limits at various locations.
Delhi’s water scarcity, which has assumed serious levels, is largely due to mismanagement and inequitable distribution of water. According to CAG estimates, the Delhi Jal Board is losing more than Rs. 1000 crore annually due to mismanagement and corruption. Forty five percent households are not connected to the piped water and sewage network hence 350 million gallons of wastewater that could have been used after recycling is lost on a daily basis. A sum of Rs 32000 crore has been spent in the water and sewage sector by the Delhi government over the last 10 years, yet there has not been much improvement in the city’s water services.
AAP believes that the right to water is a basic right and that right to food should include the right to water. To provide safe drinking water to people is the first and foremost duty of an elected government.
AAP’s Delhi’s water policy will be informed by the following:
- Ensuring that each home, colony and living establishment gets a water connection to sustain the pace of everyday life, including economic activities.
- Developing a network of local and decentralized water resources through rainwater harvesting, watershed development, soil-water conservation programs and other small projects.
- Developing Delhi’s water resources for local self-development and tourism purposes.
AAP’s water policy will be based on the following:
- Provision of Water as a Right: AAP will provide universal access to clean drinking water to all its citizens of Delhi at an affordable price, amending the DJB Act.
- Free Lifeline Water: A free lifeline of upto 20 kiloliters shall be provided to every household along with DJB’s metered water connection.
- AAP will work to a time-bound plan to bring piped water and sewage network to all areas of Delhi irrespective of their legal status. New pipelines shall be laid and UGRs, Booster Pumping Stations and Water treatment Plants constructed to meet Delhi’s requirements In order to widen the DJB water network, residents in water scarce areas will be connected with the Delhi Jal Board pipeline.
- Water treatment plants in Dwarka, Bawana and Okhla shall be operationalized.
- Tough steps will be taken to eliminate the water mafia and regulate private tankers effectively to ensure a reasonable cost to the consumer.
- AAP will ensure the implementation of the High Court order that Delhi should get extra raw water from Haryana in the Munak canal, an issue on which the BJP government in Haryana and the Centre have been dithering. All residential societies who at present are not provided with Delhi Jal Board Water connection and as a result are deprived of DJB’s piped water supply will be covered with the water pipe lines. All existing regulatory and policy frameworks on water will be streamlined on the formation of AAP government.
- A network of Piaos (water kiosks) and public hydrants to ensure availability of safe drinking water free-of-charge in Jhuggi-Jhompri (JJ) colonies as well as other underdeveloped areas of the city facing water scarcity.
- Realistic water demand projections will be prepared and losses through leakages will be steadily reduced. Water accounting and auditing will be initiated.
- In order to promote water conservation, AAP will implement a dual water distribution system by recycling the community’s wastewater for non-domestic use. This program will be taken up in planned colonies such as group housing societies, big residential apartments as well as malls and commercial complexes.
- Reviving the Yamuna: Discharge of untreated water into the river will be strictly restricted. Monitoring of flow, discharge and quality will be started. Cutting-edge technologies will be adopted and more laboratories will be set up at sector/zonal level for 24-hour surveillance hours to monitor the quality of reclaimed water. Penetration of non-treated water into the river Yamuna will be strictly restricted.
Free Lifeline Water
Each household having a metered connection will get average 700 liters of free water every day. This amounts to 20 kiloliters per month per household. This is considered to be lifeline water, which is needed for basic dignified existence.
This scheme will bring many benefits to the DJB (Delhi Jal Board) consumers.
- It promotes conservation of water by those households who would consciously cut their consumption to reduce their water bills.
- It will facilitate provisioning of piped water to those areas that are currently water stressed or have no piped water supply network since the Delhi government will be under moral obligation to provide equal benefits of this scheme to every citizen of Delhi.
- This scheme will also encourage water metering.
- Provision of lifeline water scheme shall be extended to group housing societies by making bulk allotments based on number of houses, which will incentivize societies to self-regulate their consumption.
- The supply and distribution of water will be made available to all citizenry on a fair; adequate and an equitable manner and no one shall be discriminated against in this regard.
Universal Access To Water
- AAP will provide water to all residents in uniform, adequate and an equitable manner.
- AAP will ensure that each home, colony and living establishment gets a water connection to sustain basic life and economic activities.
- A comprehensive and time bound water and sewage pipe laying network plan will be introduced to provide potable water to all house hold in Delhi irrespective of any discrimination of locality basis.
- Entire Delhi resident will be connected with the Delhi Jal Board Water Pipe network those do not currently have a piped water connection. This will be done in 5 years.
- AAP make a special commitment to all unauthorized colonies, group housing societies and water-starved constituencies. DJB water will be made available to them. This will be done by:
- Getting water from Haryana through the Munak canal
- Reviving non-functional water plants like Dwarka, Bawana, and Okhla
- Building dedicated decentralized Water Treatment Plants for poor ground water quality zones having water deficit or no treated water supply.
- Water connections in groups for JJ localities.
Fair And Transparent Pricing Policy
Water is not a commodity or an economic good. No human being can survive without water. AAP has an important concern in the context of the right to water being part of the fundamental the right to life. Henceforth the pricing policy of AAP shall remain public friendly. AAP will provide universal access to potable water to all its citizens of Delhi at a sustainable and affordable price.
- Make tariff hike changes only after due consideration and abolish the mandatory annual 10% hike in water tariffs.
- AAP government will abolish the C-1A category to provide relief to the households, which are running small shops at their residence (less than 100 square feet) for their livelihood and not using water for commercial purposes, for which they are charged commercial rates.
Commitment to Water Quality
Safe drinking water is a sine qua non of a healthy society. AAP will have a special focus and holistic approach to guarantee a safe and accessible water supply with quality standards as per BIS: 10500 certification. Following steps will be taken:
- Setting up water sample collection points at Zonal level for random checking of water quality.
- Zonal laboratory in each of the 9 zones in Delhi to test the chemical condition of water, sediments, organic and inorganic contaminants.
- Water Quality Monitoring shall be conducted on a 24X7 basis.
Water Accounting and Auditing
A comprehensive water supply accounting and auditing is essential to ascertain the exact demand and supply of water. At present Delhi Jal Board has no credible data. AAP will launch a comprehensive program for installation of bulk and domestic water meters. State of the art techniques and technologies shall be used to monitor the pressure in water pipe line, the water flow and supply. This will help in measuring accurate projection of water demand and collection of water supply data.
Crackdown on Water Mafia
- AAP is committed to clamping down on Delhi’s powerful tanker mafia, and prosecuting the political leaders who protect and control the water mafia.
- AAP will put in place a transparent Tanker water distribution system by implementation of state of the art techniques and technologies i.e. GPS/GPRS; data acquisition and flow monitoring and data base system. The schedule of tankers operating in different localities would be made available online.
- Private tankers will be regulated to ensure consumer protection against exorbitant prices.
- AAP opposes the privatization of the DJB, and reaffirms its commitment to provide clean water in every home in Delhi at an affordable price. A performance audit of private contracts will be done and those that are not functioning well or not maintained properly or proved expensive will be terminated.
Plug Leakages and Stop Theft
- More bulk meters at important points in the network to measure the flow of water and check for leakages or theft of water.
- Strengthen leak detection cell with new technology to save water and to maintain quality.
- Urgent repair to broken pipelines to prevent leakages.
Commitment to Rainwater Harvesting
Tremendous growth in population, mismanagement in water distribution system and high level of urbanization in Delhi has resulted in over-exploitation of ground water resources. Ground water levels are declining at an alarming rate and the water table is precariously low. To recharge Delhi’s groundwater resources, we will:
- AAP will take steps to regulate the tube-wells and borewells installed and operating in the city.
- We will utilize Delhi’s abundant borewells/tube wells for rainwater recharge by rainwater harvesting policies.
- We will prioritize the development of local and decentralized water resources exploring the ideas of rainwater harvesting, recharge wells, borehole flooding, watershed development, soil-water conservation programs and other small projects.
- We will revive Delhi’s water bodies like lakes, ponds, baolis, etc. by rainwater recharging and maintaining them in partnership with mohalla sabhas.
- Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been made compulsory in Tamil Nadu. Learning lessons from Tamil Nadu, the AAP government will throw its weight behind RWH and strongly push in a top-down manner. Incentives will be provided for the same. The Delhi Jal Board will also be made a partner and stakeholder in this project and it will be the nodal agency to disseminate information about the various types of soils and knowhow about RWH.
- All societies; apartments and building irrespective of public or private; government schools, commercial and office buildings and hotels will have RWH systems.
- Collection of rainwater and surface runoff through check dams at the banks of Yamuna and wherever else possible.
- Sewage has to be seen as great resource and urban society as the greatest generator of wastewater. AAP will encourage public to use treated and recycled water in other than non-domestic purposes. This approach will help to down the water supply demand in order to decrease their fresh water consuming entity and to reduce abstraction of more ground water.
- Prevent misuse of borewells. There is an urgent need for legislation regulating the use of groundwater in Delhi.
Yamuna Revival
The Yamuna River is a part of the culture of Delhi. It is our responsibility to revive this dying river. Just like England revived the Thames by imposing strict rules, we too can rejuvenate Yamuna if we have the political will:
- There will be a close and strict monitoring of all industries that discharge water into the river. Most of the pollution happens at night, while the current monitoring happens during the day only. All effluents into the river shall be monitored 24*7.
- No untreated water, whether industrial or domestic sewage will enter Yamuna.
- More sewage treatment plants will be constructed and emphasis will be laid on secondary treatment after which the water can be used for horticulture, car wash, toilet flushing and other purposes. This water can generate more revenue for DJB.
- Steps will be taken to promote flood-plain conservation.
- All construction on the Yamuna should be banned: both government and private.
- Finish the construction of Yamuna dam. The new government has given the dam environmental clearance.
- No encroachments/construction in flood plains will be allowed.
- River cleaning and desiltation work will be done on regular basis.
Swaraj in Water
- Promotion of Jal Swaraj or governance and management of water by Citizens (Concept of Public-Public Partnership)
- Citizens Water Council for Water Governance (Jal Swaraj Samiti) in Delhi at Mohalla level within RWAs or in Schools/colleges so student learn about water management and savings by managing their waters themselves at School for drinking or sanitation purposes.
- Share of profit with RWA in special projects and money earned by RWAs can be utilized for environmental initiatives in their respective society or Mohalla.
Making Sewage Systems Work, Building Community Toilets
The Aam Aadmi in Delhi suffers immensely from inadequate toilets and a defunct sewage system. Almost 25 per cent of neighborhoods, or about 42 lakh people, are not connected to the city’s sewage system. The polluted water in open drains is not only a public health hazard but also contaminates the ground water and the Yamuna.
The lack of sanitation facilities is one of the main reasons of health related issues among women. It also raises concerns over safety as women face sexual harassment in public toilets. These toilets are often extremely dirty and without any supply of water or maintenance. Private toilets in many parts of Delhi are not are not connected to the sewage system, which again raises health issues.
Delhi should have comprehensive sanitation, sewage and solid waste management for every living establishment in Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following concrete steps to reform Delhi’s sewage and sanitation system:
- The Aam Aadmi Party will construct two lakh new public toilets, half of which will be for women. These toilets will be concentrated in public spaces and slums areas. We will also work on construct eco-toilets to save water. Mohalla Sabha or welfare associations will be responsible for monitoring the maintenance of these public toilets.
- One-fourth of the city is not connected to the sewage network; all houses should be connected to the sewage network, irrespective of the nature of the settlement.
- We will work towards building a culture of weeding out plastic bags and segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste at the household level itself.
- Local solid waste management should be under the purview of local welfare associations and Mohalla Sabhas, which will have financial and administrative powers & accountability.
- Sewage treatment plants in Delhi are not properly designed. Since most of the plants are far from the residential areas, it is very expensive to lay a long network of sewage pipes and to pump sewage along the way. We will work towards models and structures, which are inexpensive and efficient to manage.
Better Waste Management, a Cleaner Delhi
We aspire to make Delhi one of the cleanest cities of the world. Waste management is one of the main concerns of residents of Delhi across income level. Garbage, pollution and disease due to lack of sanitation are common throughout the city. The Aam Aadmi Party proposes the following solutions to make Delhi clean and healthy:
- Mohalla Sabhas would be given complete authority and financial resources for waste management and cleaning of their localities.
- Littering or disposal of construction debris in public places will be heavily fined.
- We will enforce a ban on plastics bags in the city.
- We will encourage recycling by segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste at the household level.
Education: A Means for Empowerment
Delhi currently spends only 1.6% of its GSDP and 15% of its state budget on education, which shows its misaligned priorities. From 2003-2011, only 211 new government schools were opened with virtually no increase in secondary or senior secondary schools. Students from different grades often share classrooms, adversely affecting the teacher’s ability to teach and the child’s to learn. An HRD ministry report came out in 2013, which reported that only 50 out of 280 mid-day meal samples met the prescribed nutritional standards. The quality of education suffers as well. Nearly half of our class V children cannot solve two-digit subtraction problems with borrowing. Two out of every five children are not completing their elementary schooling.
In this dire backdrop, we affirm our commitment to ensuring the provision of truly equitable access to all sections of society, irrespective of their ability to pay. The Aam Aadmi Party treats education as one its principle priorities. We are committed to equality of opportunity and we strongly believe that the only way that children from across social and economic backgrounds will have an equal footing in the modern economy is through quality education.
Our education policy would be based on the following guiding principles:
- State provision of equitable access to high quality education
- Community Involvement in school education
- Context-relevant curriculum and learner-centered pedagogy
- Creation and expansion of world-class colleges and universities for Delhi’s Youth
- Skill development and vocational training institutes with supporting job market
The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following concrete steps:
- We will increase Spending on Education from the present level.
- We will open 500 New Schools with a special focus on secondary and senior secondary schools, to ensure that every child in Delhi has easy access to a quality school within 1 km of their residence. We will lower the student-teacher ratio significantly by appointing 17,000 new competent teachers, for whom teaching is a profession of choice, and not among the last few options of employment.
- We will open 20 New Colleges in Delhi to avoid unnecessary migration of talented and motivated students to other states of India or abroad, due to an acute shortage of seats.
- AAP will bring in complete transparency in Nursery and KG admissions in both government and private schools. To streamline the admissions process, we will use a centralized online transparent system for nursery admissions thus removing avenues for corruption.
- We will Monitor Private School Fees by making fee structure and accounts transparent and online. We will publish the class strength, vacancies, admissions process online for every school.
- We will ensure that all schools set up a School Management Committee, which will have adequate participation of all stakeholders, viz., Parents, Teachers, Administrators and Class IV employees, who will have administrative and functional powers. Parents will be made a principal signatory or vice-chairperson of the SMC, and will assist in the School Development Plan.
- We will start a Higher Education Guarantee Scheme, which will ensure that all students graduating from Delhi schools who wish to pursue any diploma or degree course after 12 grade, should be given a loan by banks with only one criteria: the securing of admission. No student will be rejected for this loan, which should cover their tuition fees as well as the cost of stay. These loans will have to be repaid within a stipulated period after securing employment.
- Headmasters will be empowered for all decision-making in running the school efficiently, and given financial independence and untied funds for the development and day-to-day operation of the school.
Empowering Teachers
- We believe in provision of financial independence and untied funds to every principal. They will be given one Lakh rupees of untied funds and administrative/financial control over the employees of his/her school.
- We will ease issues of teacher administration. Salary receipts, increments, promotions, transfer postings and retirement benefits will be transparent and online.
- Teacher training will get a lot more emphasis, so that better teachers enter the workforce and existing teachers also become better.
- We will reduce the quantum and time spent by teachers on non-educational tasks during their duty hours, e.g., preparing mid-day meal, carrying out data entry tasks and other monitoring.
Supporting Students
- We will focus on early childhood learning to prevent differences in learning life cycles for children. This will mean that Anganwadis are brought under the schooling system. We will ensure more standardized teaching at Anganwadis since learning begins right after birth.
- We will provide nutritious food for Anganwadis according to the directions of WHO to reduce malnutrition.
- We will insist on introducing child-friendly pedagogy and ethics-based education, instead of learning by rote.
- No schools will be allowed to refuse admission to Children with Disability.
- We will stress on measuring learning outcomes of curricula to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. We will consider converting report cards from numbers to qualitative data that parent can understand in terms of achievement. A third party, large-scale assessment of the school will also be conducted on a regular basis.
- Curricula will be broadened to provide students a wide range of avenues to pursue. Different language options will be provided to students to make a choice of learning the language of their choice.
- More Anganwadis will be opened for children under 6 years of age. Existing ICDS programs will be fully staffed and efficiently utilized.
Excellent Schools
- We will provide facilities for all students and teachers in government schools, including primary resources such as sufficient classrooms and drinking water.
- Toilets will be built as well as other essential infrastructure in each school.
- The standard of education in government schools will be improved to that of the best private schools in the city.
- RTE will be fully implemented de facto. EWS (economically weak sections) of our society will be made aware of their rights and schools will implement their responsibilities completely.
- Implementation of 25% EWS reservation in every private school will be ensured. No EWS student or child with disability should be turned away by a private school.
- Improvements in the nutritional standard of mid-day meals and providing higher protein content in mid-day meals will be ensured.
- Maintenance of educational history of all students will be introduced across schools and states and for all ages to ensure better learning outcomes.
Public Healthcare For Public Benefit
Delhi has about 43,500 beds in private and public hospitals. This amounts to 2.5 beds per thousand people, without accounting for the large number of people from other states and abroad who visit Delhi for medical treatment. This number is low but it is even starker for Delhi government hospital beds, with 0.58 beds per thousand of the population. Due to an imbalanced load on tertiary hospitals, many primary hospital beds, doctors and nurses are under-utilized whilst there is a severe load on tertiary hospitals, which leads to poor patient care and low quality of healthcare. The citizens of Delhi have lost faith in the healthcare services provided by the state and spend exorbitant amounts on questionable private healthcare. The best hospitals of the city are beyond the reach of average citizens. Government hospitals function beyond their capacity and struggle to provide good treatment to all patients. The Aam Aadmi is hence forced to take huge loans for serious ailments and often goes into debt.
Delhi should have high quality public hospitals with an expanding outreach. Health care delivery systems should be modernized using latest technology. There should be a focus on proactive prevention of diseases to reduce healthcare costs and to improve the quality of life.
AAP’s Healthcare Policy will be based on:
- Expanding and strengthening of public health systems, while making them accountable
- Focus on disease prevention, primary healthcare and on diseases with high mortality rates
- Realigning the relationship between pharmaceutical and healthcare industry to maximize public welfare
To improve health facilities, the Aam Aadmi Party will take the following steps:
- The Aam Aadmi Party will improve and upgrade government health care facilities so that all citizens of Delhi – rich or poor – have access to high quality health care. New government hospitals will be opened to ensure Delhi conforms to the international norm of 5 beds for every thousand people.
- Total budgetary allocation and spending on healthcare will be increased.
- The number of hospital beds in secondary and tertiary hospitals of Delhi government will be increased from existing 10,600 to 40,000 beds, including 4,000 specialist maternity beds. We will ensure that Delhi has 100% institutional delivery as opposed to its dismal 81% ID, which drops to a shameful 50% in Delhi’s slums and bastis.
- Posts for 4,000 doctors and 15,000 for paramedics and nurses are currently vacant. These vacancies will be filled immediately. Contractual posting and appointments will be abolished.
- Many hospitals have been inaugurated in Delhi during previous elections but these projects remain uncompleted. We will bring to completion these half-built hospitals.
- 900 new Primary Health Centers will be built.
- Private hospitals built on land granted by the government will be made to fulfill their commitments toward public healthcare.
- Generic medicines will be promoted to reduce medical expenses.
- A large proportion of health-related issues in Delhi can be traced to contaminated water, and improper waste disposal. The Aam Aadmi Party will target the root cause of poor health in Delhi by improving the quality of environment in the city on a long-term basis.
- Mohalla Sabhas will manage primary hospitals and dispensaries at the local level, and Delhi government will monitor the working of large hospitals.
- There will be a special task force to control Dengue fever. We will try our best to eradicate Dengue from Delhi.
- AAP will set up specialist eye and dental care centers in every hospital in Delhi.
- A 24-hour helpline run by well-qualified staff will be set up for every government hospital in Delhi.
- Health cards will be issued to all residents in Delhi to ensure long-term health service provision and efficient delivery of health services.
- Pharmaceutical drugs and equipment procurement will be centralized to ensure zero corruption.
- 100% computerization of all hospitals will be done. Our government had already started a pilot project in LNJP hospital.
- Free ambulance will be provided across Delhi, even to private hospital patients. Last February, our government had ordered 100 ICU-fitted ambulances and more will be ordered to provide ambulance service to residents.
- Free mortuary service will be provided.
- More pharmacy shops will be opened to dispense generic drugs.
- Outpatient hospital hours will be increased to include early morning and late evening timings to facilitate office-going residents. Appointments at all hospitals will be made online.
- Emergency services will be expanded across Delhi Hospitals. The number of emergency beds in every hospital will be increased from 10% to 40%.
Women’s Rights and Safety
Delhi has the highest rate of kidnappings and rapes among all cities in India. Women, senior citizens and children are especially vulnerable to crimes.
We envision a Delhi in which women are not governed by patriarchal values, which determine their societal and familial roles, but as self-sufficient, inspiring and enterprising agents of change and growth. Delhi should have stringent laws to uphold women’s rights at the workplace and at home. We envision a Delhi in which women are equal and empowered citizens.
AAP will put pressure on the Central Government for the following changes:
- The Delhi Police is often reluctant to file an FIR. The police must register all FIRS, and they must carry out timely investigation on cases.
- Installing CCTVs in the FIR registration rooms to monitor whether the police are registering all FIRs.
- Implementing all provisions suggested by the Justice Verma Committee to prevent crimes against women.
The Delhi government will take the following steps to ensure the safety of its citizens:
- Adequate Street Lighting: 70% of Delhi’s streetlights do not work. Unlit streets are unsafe, and responsible for the increasing number of crimes and a sense of fear amongst women. AAP will ensure that there is 100% coverage via streetlights across the city so that no miscreant or anti-social activity goes unnoticed
- Last Mile Connectivity: AAP will provide effective last mile connectivity in Delhi’s public transit, which will greatly reduce the number of crimes against women. An effective combination of shared autos, metro feeder services and e-rickshaws will be used to provide efficient last mile connectivity by fixing and delimiting routes. This will be synced with metro and bus timings so that there is connection to each neighborhood from nodal points.
- CCTVs in Public Spaces & Buses: AAP plans to install CCTV cameras in DTC buses, bus stands and crowded places to intimidate attackers and deter crime. AAP will ensure that women feel secure in public transportation, and will use the entire fiscal, financial and administrative might to ensure that women’s security is ensured on urgent and priority basis.
- Speedy Justice: AAP will strongly push for the creation and completion of fast-track courts, which are dedicated to handling cases of sexual assault and other crimes against women. AAP will operationalize 47 new courts that it had commissioned in January 2014 to ensure speedy justice. New courts and new judges will be appointed. If required, the courts will be run in 2 shifts. We will ensure that we have enough courts to decide all cases within 6 months.
- Women’s Security Force: AAP will set up Mahila Suraksha Dal or Women’s Security Force made up of a 10,000 strong Home Guard who are currently forced to work as servants, drivers and cooks at the residences of senior officers and ministers. AAP will also use 5,000 bus marshals to prevent and deter crime on public transport.
- Suraksha Button: Our government will provide a Suraksha/SOS button on every mobile phone, smart or otherwise. Connectivity to the police, nearest PCR van, relatives and volunteer community will be promoted.
- We will increase the number of well located and safe Working Women’s Hostels and shelters for the homeless.
Honouring our Senior Citizens, Policemen and Ex-Servicemen
Respecting our policemen and army men: Policemen and army men who sacrifice their lives for our country will be honored. Delhi government will provide Rs. 1 Crore to the families of those policemen and army men who have sacrificed their lives on the borders to protect our country.
Protecting our Senior Citizens: Our government will implement Universal and Non-Contributory Old Age Pension System immediately with a minimum dignified amount of monthly pension, which is indexed to inflation. Delays in disbursement, non-uniformity in deployment and favoritism in selection will be finished.
Honoring our Ex-Servicemen: Delhi houses one of the largest population of ex-servicemen and women from the Armed Forces. AAP will stand by the nation’s ex-servicemen in their fight for “One Rank, One Pension”. The education curriculum will be augmented to teach Indian military history. Delhi’s employment board and other civic bodies will be instructed to help our ex-servicemen with highest priority. Only ex-servicemen will fulfill job vacancies reserved for ex-servicemen.
Strong Legal Framework and Fraternity For Swift Justice
Our country suffers from a defunct judicial system; it often takes up to 15-20 years to deliver justice in a case. Criminals who have committed heinous crimes like murder and rape remain unpunished for years. The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following measures within its jurisdiction to improve the delivery of justice:
- New courts and new judges will be appointed. If required, the courts will be run in 2 shifts. We will ensure that we have enough courts to go through all cases within 6 months.
- Court cases remain pending for years. The current government itself is one of the parties in a significant number of cases. The Aam Aadmi Party will ensure that no adjournments are made in cases where the Delhi Government is a litigant.
- Special courts will temporarily be set up to dispense cases that are pending in lower courts.
- Proceedings of all court cases will be video-recorded and made available to ordinary citizens.
- We will make provisions for affordable housing for government counsels and lawyers practising in lower courts. The government will streamline existing government medical schemes to ensure maximum coverage of legal functionaries.
- Children in Delhi are unsafe. More than 3,500 children were kidnapped last year. A number of legislations exist for the protection of children. We will ensure that laws (like Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO Act) for security of children are enforced.
Empowering Delhi’s Marginalized Areas
Each citizen of Delhi deserves to live in a proper living establishment that is supported by adequate electricity, water and sanitation facilities. Land and housing policy needs to be based on:
- Reforming and restructuring the work of various land-owning and development agencies like DDA, MCD, DUSIB to work for the public’s good
- Creating long-term policies to ensure availability of low-cost housing, in order to prevent mushrooming of unauthorized settlements
- Ensuring adequate provision of community toilets to ensure health and safety of citizens
- Making property tax, land registration and other land-related administrative processes simpler and transparent
- Making land allotment to private institutions like private hospitals, schools and colleges and to urge them to be accountable to their duty towards economically weaker sections of Delhi
Delhi’s Villages To Be Given Special Attention
Villagers in the outskirts of Delhi find themselves deprived on two accounts – they do not enjoy basic urban facilities even though they are part of a metropolitan city, nor do they get the benefits extended to farmers in rural areas. While farming and ancestral businesses are dying out as these areas urbanize, the lack of awareness about new occupations prevents these villagers from joining the mainstream economic life of the city. Ancestral houses and farmlands are often the only options for livelihood.
Our policy for Rural Delhi will be based on the following:
- Removal of unjust land regulations and facilitating land usage
- Transformation of Basic Facilities (Piped water, electricity, schools, hospitals, Bus and Metro Services)
- Creation of fruitful employment opportunities and increased connectivity with urban Delhi.
- Tapping our Rural Youth’s Potential
- Reinvigorating the rural economy (Special assistance to farmers, animal husbandry, horticulture and setting up of more veterinary hospitals)
Most often, farmers do not receive adequate compensation when their properties are acquired for the city’s expansion. In addition, government regulations place a number of barriers on the use and sale of land in the villages of Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party will take following steps to improve the life of villagers in Delhi:
- Decisions regarding the development of Delhi’s villages to be taken by Gram Sabhas, which will be granted special untied Village Development Funds to be utilized according to their priorities. Gram Sabhas will take decisions on policy matters in monthly meetings.
- Re-carving of wards in rural villages so that wards have distinct identities. Our aim is to recognize our villages as villages, conserving their cultural legacy and heritage.
- The Delhi Government is currently entitled to acquire village land without permission of the Gram Sabha. In this process, farmers are often exploited and receive a small share of the market price of their land. We will make sure that no land is acquired in Delhi’s villages without the consent of Gram Sabha.
- We will bring suitable administrative and land reforms so that regressive and outdated regulations on land sale and usage are scrapped.
- Injustice and harassment caused due to Section 33 and 81 of the Delhi Land Reform Act (which doesn’t permit a farmer to sell his/her agricultural land) will be removed
- Power to extend boundaries of ‘Lal Dora’ will be given to Gram Sabhas. Redrawing of Lal Dora to accommodate the growing population and its needs will be considered.
- Many villagers have not received compensation for land acquired by the Delhi Development Authority. The Aam Aadmi Party will put pressure on the DDA to dispense this compensation as soon as possible.
- Efforts will be made to give security of tenure to landless farmers who have been given land on leasehold.
- The villages of Delhi are home to a number of international level players. We will provide new stadiums and other sports facilities in the villages to encourage young adults to pursue sports.
- 50 new ambulances, 100 new schools and vetinerary hospitals will be opened in rural Delhi. We will increase the number of dispensaries and hospitals in rural areas. The quality of healthcare in Rural Delhi will be improved.
- Increased proliferation of bus and metro services for rural Delhi will be undertaken. Better waste disposal and garbage dumps will be created.
- Easy availability of quality seeds, manure and promotion of horticulture, special assistance to promote animal husbandry and insurance scheme for animals and loans to procure animal stock will be provided.
- Central government will be pressurized to remove unnecessary restrictions regarding land use in villages
- Our government will fulfill and complete the allotments in every village according to the 20 Point Program where agricultural and residential plot land was supposed to be given to landless and poor people.
Better Facilities and Regularization of Unauthorized Colonies
In Delhi, only one-fourth of the population lives in planned colonies. 75% of Delhi’s citizens reside in some form of illegal constructions: unauthorized colonies, slums, JJ clusters and rural and urban villages. This distinction not only indicates the pressures of rapid urbanization, but also points toward the stark inequality in social citizenship in our city. A small part of Delhi benefits from development while most of the city struggles to make limited claims on the political establishment.
Planned housing has been beyond the Aam Aadmi for decades. Consequently, the lower middle-class and the poor have built their homes using means available to them. On one hand, the government is unable to provide housing to majority of the people and on the other; it turns people who use their own means to provide for their housing into violators of the law. The property mafia – brokers, developers, and politicians, have taken advantage of this situation.
About one-third of the people of Delhi live in unauthorized colonies. Before each election, the Congress party tries to deceive the residents of unauthorized colonies and get their votes. On 24th March 2008, the Delhi government issued a notification for Regularization of Unauthorized Colonies. But after winning the election in November 2008, the Congress forgot the promises it made to these residents. For five years, the Congress has done nothing for them. Now, before the elections, BJP is resorting to the same lies that Congress used to peddle.
The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following steps regarding unauthorized colonies:
- We will provide registration rights, property and sales deeds; provide water, sewage lines and electricity to these colonies in a systematic phased manner. Till true rights are not given, which no party BJP or Congress has endeavored to do, unauthorized colonies will remain disempowered.
- Within one year of forming the government, these unauthorized colonies will be regularized and the residents will be given ownership rights.
- Most of the unauthorized colonies get established due to a nexus between the police, politicians and officials. People who buy houses in these colonies are often misguided. In the future, there will be stringent legal proceedings against the politicians, police and officials who establish such colonies.
- Each Mohalla Sabha will play an important role in the regularization of unauthorized colonies, development plans and the implementation of these plans
- In the long-term, appropriate planning will be undertaken to ensure availability of affordable, legal housing on a large scale to all citizens.
Better Facilities and In Situ Development of Slums
In Delhi, the Congress has treated slum-dwellers like a vote bank. At the time of elections, the party buys their votes with false promises and money, and then demolishes the slums and takes control of the plots. The law considers slum-dwellers as violators and the rest of the society despises them. The reality is that nobody prefers to live in a slum—many people are not left with enough money to pay rent for a proper home after struggling to meet their day-to-day needs in a city as expensive as Delhi.
The people who live in slums are integral to the function of the city—they keep Delhi clean, dispose garbage, deliver milk, drive auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws and the cars owned by the rich, they work as security guards, bring vegetables to our streets and to our doorstep, and work in our homes. If the people living in the slums stop working for a day, the entire city of Delhi will come to a halt.
However, no party has paid attention to the problems of the slum-dwellers. They have all demolished slums and at that time, made false promises of providing them with plots or flats.
Our government will bring justice to the people of the slums. The following measures will be taken for them:
- We will perform a survey of all families living in the slums and prepare a comprehensive list. As far as possible, most of the slum-dwellers will be provided plots or flats in the same location as the existing slum, equipped with a clean, living environment.
- If it is not possible to provide residence at the same location, they will be rehabilitated in the closest possible location. The Mohalla Sabha will do the planning of the rehabilitation process and monitoring of the implementation.
- Affordable housing will be developed in sufficiently large numbers so that in the future, slums will not need to exist.
- Until rehabilitation is completed, the slums will not be demolished under any circumstances.
Until rehabilitation, the following steps will be taken in the slums:
- Broken roads and streets in the slums will be repaired and made into pukka streets.
- Lack of toilets is a big problem in the slums, especially for women. Toilet facilities will be established in all slums of Delhi. The responsibility of maintenance of community toilets and monitoring of cleanliness and sanitation will be given to the Mohalla Sabhas.
- Facilities for drinking water, sanitation and cleaning of sewage canals will be provided in all slums.
True Settlement in Resettlement Colonies
Land reform is one of the prime problems of the resettlement colonies of Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party will ensure that it solves their problems once and for all. Properties were allotted long back and many of the original allottees have expired and their legal heirs are occupying these properties. And yet, the legal status of these properties continues to be Government of India and the occupants have no claim of these properties. While the DUSIB was formed to give freehold rights to the owners, this has still remained a distant dream.
The Aam Aadmi Party recognizes the problems of resettlement colonies and proposes a simple new solution to confer freehold rights to resettlement colonies.
- In resettlement colonies, free hold rights/ ownership of land will be granted to occupants in three months.
- Original allottees will receive ownership of their plots within one month for just Rs. 10,000.
- Other land occupants who are not original allottees will receive their plots in less than Rs. 50,000, depending on their plot size.
- The cumbersome multi-page form will be simplified into a single page form
Economic Vision
Protecting the Common Man from Rising Prices
Today, one of the biggest problems for the Aam Aadmi is the rising cost of living and unemployment. Statistics show that the income of Delhi and its residents has risen, but in reality, due to the rise in costs of all basic necessities such as electricity, water, vegetables, food grains, petrol, diesel, education and health, the true economic situation of most families is worse than before. The complete solution to this problem requires a change in policies of the Central Government. However, the state government can independently take several steps to improve the situation. Aam Aadmi Party will take up the following measures:
- We will bring down the electricity bills by 50%, and provide 700 liters of water to every household free of cost. This will provide big relief to all the families.
- In retail and wholesale business, stringent measures will be taken to prevent hoarding and profiteering. Black market cannot survive without political patronage. Our government will use the full strength of the law and government. Black marketers will be arrested, their godowns raided and their hoarded goods will be released so that food grains, vegetables and fruits will be available for lower prices.
- Expenditure on education is a substantial part of each family’s expense. We will implement a law regulating the unbridled fees charged by private schools and prevent them from collecting ‘donations’. We will improve the standard of government schools so that the Aam Aadmi can send their children to government schools with full assurance about quality.
- We will increase the number of government hospitals and substantially improve the quality of services, so that the Aam Aadmi can fully utilize these services. This will reduce the expenditure incurred by the Aam Aadmi on doctors and medical treatment.
- Corruption is a very important reason for rising costs of living. Within 15 days of coming to power, our government will enforce the Jan Lokpal Act to control corruption strictly and effectively. As corruption in Delhi reduces, the cost of living will also come down effectively.
- The Black economy is an important reason for inflation. The river of black economy begins with the way elections are financed. Our party has set an example, which demonstrates that elections can be fought with clean money. By stopping the flow of black money, we will bring significant relief to every Aam Aadmi from inflation and rising costs.
- Ration shops and the public distribution system protect the Aam Aadmi from rising costs. But the ration shop system in Delhi is steeped in corruption. Our government will end corruption in the public distribution system with the involvement of Mohalla Sabhas. Instead of Direct Cash Transfer, we will ensure direct transfer of ration materials to the families. We will also include dal and oil in the public distribution system.
These steps will reduce inflation burdens on the Aam Aadmi significantly, providing them with the chance to invest and enjoy their hard-earned money more fruitfully:
Employment Generation in Delhi
Delhi is one of the most prosperous cities in India in terms of overall GDP. A closer examination of the structure of the economy and wealth distribution, however, reveals a less optimistic picture. The main drivers of growth in the city are real estate, share market, and speculative industries – sectors that do contribute immensely to overall GDP but do not generate employment. We will take the following steps to generate employment in Delhi:
- The government will encourage talent and start-ups by:
- Setting up technological incubators in universities and colleges,
- Facilitate innovative and private startup accelerators to provide support to entrepreneurs,
- Target to provide 3 million square feet of affordable Incubation space to begin with, and scale up if the idea takes shape.
- AAP will fulfill 55,000 immediate vacancies in the government departments and the autonomous bodies of GNCT Delhi.
- Vacant positions available at the Departments of Education, Health, Solid Waste Management, etc. will be filled.
- Open 500 new schools and hospitals, which will generate employment in large numbers.
- AAP will promote vocational education and skill-development of Delhi’s youth in schools and colleges, to bridge the real skill-gap in Delhi. We will create the Delhi Skill Mission that will enable the skilling of 1 lakh/year for the first 2 years, ramped up to 5 lakhs/year for the next 3 years of an AAP government.
- Open vocational training institutes to encourage vocational training. The skills developed through these programs would allow young entrepreneurs to set up their own small businesses.
- Promote self-employment and generate growth in the small business sector by making small provisions for low interest loans for young entrepreneurs. The process of applying for loans will be simplified and all steps will be taken to make sure that it is corruption-free.
- AAP will implement flexible and fair labour policy. Permanent sources of employment will be created through legislations that will put an end to the practice of contract labour in the city.
- Reforms in the trading and business sector will generate growth, which will also promote employment.
- Street vending will be legalized and provisions for their safety will be made. This will generate thousands of local businesses and also provide safety to women at night.
Facilitating Trade in Delhi
Delhi is one of the main centres for trading in North India. Politically, the trader community in Delhi is generally believed to be a vote-bank for the BJP. The BJP, however, has done little to understand the everyday problems of the community. Aam Aadmi Party is committed to create a friendly business environment that can promote honest business practices.
AAP’s trade and industry policy is based on:
- Facilitating greater trade within Delhi by having trader-friendly policies.
- Simplifying VAT and other tax structure of Delhi, to ease tax compliance.
- Incentivizing entrepreneurship by providing cheap capital and creating startup incubators.
- Providing better facilities, like roads, water, and electricity, in Delhi’s Industrial Areas.
Traders in Delhi suffer on two related accounts – problems with respect to regulations, as well as corruption in regulating agencies. We believe that government rules and regulations in the trading sector are so complicated that ordinary business owners find it almost impossible to meet all their guidelines.
Not surprisingly, it opens up opportunities for corruption among government employees responsible for necessary approvals. There is no doubt that certain traders do use unfair means, but we believe that by-and-large traders of this country want to run their businesses through honest and peaceful means. The following concrete measures will be taken to empower our traders:
- AAP will bring an end to raid and inspector raj. Routine VAT raids will be shut down. Only in cases of unprecedented corruption and other exceptional situations, and approved by the highest officials will VAT raids be conducted.
- In five years, Delhi will attempt to have the lowest VAT regime.
- The procedures for VAT are so complicated that traders find it almost impossible to follow its guidelines in their entirety. They resort to corruption as a means to circumvent the red tape. VAT rules will be simplified and so will trade processes and forms. The 30+-page VAT form will be made into 1 simple page for traders.
- Traders will forget where the VAT office is, since all transactions will be online. Licenses can be applied for and received at home. We aim to reduce the interface with Delhi government, which will reduce the avenues and opportunities for corruption.
- Our government will ensure that starting a trade or business in Delhi takes just one week.
- Stakeholder participation of traders in any formation of Delhi trade policy will be made mandatory.
- Parking fees have been charged off many traders but they haven’t received any facility. Facilities will be provided as a right for those who pay such fees.
- One portion of the VAT from every locality and market will be used for the maintenance and upgradation of that market to foster future business and trade.
- Delhi has lost its position as one of the main centres of wholesale trade in North India as a result of poor policies by previous governments. We will institute favourable policies for wholesale trade to revive this sector. This can be expected to generate new sources of employment.
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail will lead to loss of millions of jobs in the small-business sector. The Aam Aadmi Party is opposed to FDI in retail in Delhi.
Improvement in service provision in Industrial Areas
- Industrial areas in Delhi suffer from extremely poor infrastructure. We are committed to improve service delivery in these areas. This will encourage greater industrial growth and hence greater employment.
- We believe the complexity in existing laws in the sector encourages corrupt behaviour by both industrialists and government officials. We will review the existing industrial policy with a special focus on the license process for starting new industries.
- We will provide facilities for training and easy loans for young people who wish to set up industries.
Opposition to Contractualization of Labour
The employment structure in Delhi has seen a strong shift towards contractual forms of employment in the last 10-15 years across different sectors. This is often highly exploitative since basic benefits and safeguards extended to permanent employees are absent for contract workers. For example, deductions for Provident Fund (PF) and Employee State Insurance (ESI) are often not deposited on employee accounts. Many employees work throughout the year without any paid leave. The Aam Aadmi Party is strongly opposed to exploitation in the work place.
Our Job and Employment Policy needs to be based on:
- Fostering trade and economic connectivity with the world in this age of globalization.
- Prioritizing common man’s concerns of employment generation, keeping check on inflation and eliminating poverty.
- Introducing genuine labor reform by opposing contractualization, implementing minimum wages, restructuring labor department and pressuring the Central government to change the labor-unfriendly provisions of the Contract Labour Act (1970).
- Promoting vocational education and skill-development of Delhi’s youth.
- Ensuring social security for workers in the unorganized sector, regulating wages and working hours of domestic workers, improving working condition of rag pickers.
We will take the following steps to improve the condition of workers:
- We will not allow contractual employment for posts that require work to be done throughout the year. Examples include doctors, teachers, nurses, drivers, sanitation workers etc. Their jobs will be regularized and made permanent which will allow workers to enjoy all benefits that permanent employees do.
- For jobs that require temporary engagement for a few days or months (for example in the construction industry), it is not possible to eliminate contract labour. We will, however, take steps to ensure better working conditions in these sectors.
- We will enforce minimum wages strictly in Delhi. Strong action will be taken regarding any violations of the law.
- Corruption in the Labour Department of Delhi is an important contributing factor towards rampant violations of the labour laws. We will institute reforms in the functioning of the labour department.
- The Contract Labour Act of 1970 includes some provisions for blue-collar workers. Sections of the Act that can be amended by the Delhi Government will be amended in favour of workers. We will also put pressure on the Central Government to revise other sections of the Act that will benefit workers.
Social Security for Workers in the Unorganized Sector
86% of the workforce in Delhi comprises of workers in the unorganized sector. This includes domestic workers, construction labour, security guards, rag-pickers, workers in small shops and restaurants, street-vendors, etc. who contribute significantly to the society and the economy, but often function under extremely exploitative conditions. There are no guidelines in the existing laws regarding their wages, working hours, or required facilities in place of work. In order to improve the condition of workers in the unorganized sector in a well-informed manner, our Government will carry out a survey of all informal sector units in the city and design appropriate polices that would benefit workers in the sector.
We will institute regulations regarding the wages, working hours and provisions for weekly and yearly leave for domestic labour. We will collaborate with the MCD to carry out similar guidelines for workers involved in solid waste management and sanitation. The Building Construction Workers Board will be instructed to enforce the provisions related to social security (pension, healthcare, insurance, etc.) of workers. The above policies will extend social security to the gamut of workers in the unorganized sector.
Licenses and Permanent Spaces for Street Vendors
Street vendors and hawkers play a significant role in the urban economy. They provide important goods and services to the Aam Aadmi at a reasonable price. They also contribute towards controlling inflation in the local level. The sector is an important source of employment. Lack of regulations in the sector unfortunately contributes towards traffic congestion, overcrowding, encroachment of footpaths, and problems with garbage disposal. The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following steps to improve the condition of street vending in Delhi:
- Local Mohalla Sabhas will provide licenses to street vendors and hawkers.
- Markets throughout the city will designate spaces for hawkers. The Local Mohalla Sabhas will determine these spaces.
- These provisions will not only provide necessary services to street vendors, they will also put an end to their exploitation by the police and the MCD.
Delhi: The Wi-Fi City
We will make Wi-Fi freely available all over Delhi.
Citywide Wi-Fi can help hugely in bridging the digital divide. It will also provide an impetus to education, entrepreneurship, business, employment, and also tie in with women’s safety initiatives. The Wi-Fi will be provided in public zones of Delhi. The Internet and telecom companies have been approached and a high-level feasibility study has been done in consultation with them. This project also contributes in a positive way to ensure the safety of women in Delhi. The ready access to Wi-Fi allows the victim of an assault to reach out for help through a handheld device.
Delhi: The Drug-Free City
Our neighboring state Punjab is fighting with the deadly menace of drugs. The menace is slowly, but surely, spreading to Delhi. We need to tackle this problem head-on.
AAP wishes to make Delhi a completely drug-free state and towards that it will take the following steps:
- Prevent drug trafficking through tight monitoring, and strict punishments for all found guilty.
- Double the number of de-addiction centers, and provide mental and psychiatric support for rehabilitation purposes.
- Ensure that effective counseling is easily available in schools for adolescents.
Transforming Delhi’s Transportation
The roads and metro system is the lifeline of a megacity like Delhi. The lack of an integrated transport system leads of loss of thousands of man-hours in the streets every day. While the traffic in some sectors does function smoothly most of the city remains congested, especially during peak hours. The state of the public transport in the city is reflected by the fact that 93% of vehicles on the roads are private. Buses comprise of less than 2.5% of the total traffic while they transport 55-60% of the commuters. The condition of public transport is especially bad in the outskirts of the city.
Delhi should have high quality diverse public transport to reduce peak time load on roads. The transportation should include Metro trains, last mile connectivity via feeder buses & private transport vehicles like autorickshaws. Important considerations are as follows:
- Creating public, universal and affordable transport.
- Expansion of public transport services including the Metro; improving and making secure last mile connectivity via feeder buses, shared auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws.
- Making pavements and cycle tracks on all possible roads; removing unnecessary route restrictions on rickshaws.
- Ensuring speed for a few doesn’t come at the cost of ease of movement for the rest.
Convenient and Inexpensive Public Transport
The only sustainable solution to Delhi’s transport problems lies in investing in a public transport system that is convenient and attractive. This would encourage people to shift from private means of transport. The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following provisions to make the transport system inexpensive, convenient, safe and accessible:
- We will formulate holistic transport policies for all forms of transport including the metro, buses, auto rickshaws, rickshaws and cycles. For this purpose, a ‘Unified Transport Authority’ will be established.
- Increasing auto stands, streamlining procedure for purchasing auto-rickshaws, preventing black marketing, preventing police harassment and revising auto fares will be done in an ongoing manner.
- We will expand the bus services in the city at a massive scale. Both the public and private sector will have an important role to play in this process. These buses will designed to cater to different sections of the society with the aim of shifting the modal distribution of traffic towards public means.
- We will resolve all legitimate grievances of DTC employees. A large number of DTC employees face exploitative working conditions through contractual terms of engagement. We are committed to end contractualization of employment.
- We will improve the connectivity between the outskirts of the city to existing and new bus and metro lines through feeder services, shared autos, e-rickshaws and rickshaws by lifting unnecessary restrictions against these forms of transport. Route rationalization will be carried out for all modes of transport. Secure and reliable last mile connectivity from bus and metro services to be introduced via shared autos and shared taxis.
- We will clamp down on the rampant corruption in the Transport Department.
- We will collaboration with Indian railways to extend and develop the Ring Rail service in Delhi.
- We will plan for a large-scale expansion of Delhi metro.
- Senior citizens, students and persons with disability will be provided concessional rates on buses and the metro.
Improvement in Roads and Provisions for Non-Motorized Transport
- Multi-storeyed parking facilities to created in busy and congestion-prone localities.
- Mohalla/Ward Sabhas will maintain local streets and lanes.
- Pavements for pedestrians shall be made on all roads, whenever logistically possible. We are committed to remove unnecessary restrictions on rickshaws, including confiscation of rickshaws by the police and MCD.
- Adequate rickshaw stands will be made in different parts of the city. Special corridors will be made for cyclists in order to improve their safety.
Fair Arrangement for Auto-Drivers and Auto-Commuters
Auto rickshaws are an integral part of the transport system of Delhi. Poor policies by previous governments, and corruption in the Department of Transport and Police have affected both auto drivers as well as commuters in an adverse way.
No political party has ever considered the plight of the auto-drivers. The Aam Aadmi Party will institute the following policies to improve the condition of auto-drivers and commuters:
- Large number of auto-rickshaw stands to be set up in Delhi.
- We will facilitate bank loans for purchasing of auto-rickshaws through a streamlined process that puts a stop to black markets and “waiting”.
- The strictest measures will be taken against corrupt practices of the Transport Department. Those engaging in illegal practices in auto-rickshaw financing will be prosecuted.
- We will prevent harassment of auto-rickshaw drivers by the police. Confiscation of auto-rickshaws by the police will not be allowed.
- We will revise auto-rickshaw fares biannually to account for inflation. We will introduce waiting charges in meters.
- We will prevent misuse of Sections 66/192A.
- We will institute special trainings to improve the conduct of auto-drivers.
- The interests of commuters will be protected by taking strict action against auto-drivers in case of violation of laws or misbehaviour.
Delhi’s e-rickshaw drivers will be protected
The e-rickshaw driver spent many months mired in confusion losing their livelihood over the BJP’s policy inaction in defining their livelihood. 90,000 e-rickshaws and the 2-lakh families that depend on them for their living were stopped indefinitely because of the indifference of the Central government towards the livelihood and safety of the common man. AAP will fight for the rights of e-rickshaws and formulate a clear policy and standards for ownership, operation and safety.
Improving Delhi’s Environment
Yamuna: Ending Pollution and Encroachment
Yamuna used to be the lifeblood of Delhi. It is shameful that in its length of more than 1300 kilometres, the 22-kilometer stretch in Delhi accounts for about 80% of its pollution. Because of disposal of untreated sewage, the river takes the form of a massive sewage drain. Delhi suffers from inadequate treatment plants to process its domestic and industrial waste. Existing treatment plants remain under-utilized. The Aam Aadmi Party will take the following steps to save the Yamuna:
- Only 70% of Delhi is connected to the city’s sewage system. Aam Aadmi Party will ensure that no untreated sewage would enter the Yamuna by connecting all localities and houses to the sewage network.
- In order to ensure that no untreated, toxic effluents from industries flow into the Yamuna, we will establish numerous Effluent Treatment Plants.
- The last few years have experienced a spurt in construction on the Yamuna bank, the Akshardham Temple and the Commonwealth Games Village being prime examples. These constructions make Delhi more vulnerable to floods. We will prevent further encroachment and construction on the Yamuna riverbed.
Reducing Pollution, Saving the Ridge
Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. A number of ailments among its residents can be traced to the quality of its air and water. Conservation is one of the key agendas of the Aam Aadmi Party. This is reflected in a number of policies discussed earlier: solar energy, water conservation, sewage treatment, recycling of solid waste, and use of public transport. In addition, we will institute the following policies to improve the environment of Delhi:
- Delhi Ridge is the lung of the city. The ridge suffers from serious encroachments at the hand of builders in collision with corrupt government agencies. Further, funds allocated by the center for afforestation remain severely underutilized. The Ridge will be protected from encroachment and deforestation. Afforestation would be carried out in all parts of Delhi in collaboration with local Mohalla Sabhas.
- Public transports would be improved to reduce the number of cars on the road. We will provide incentives for low-emission fuels like CNG.
Social Justice
Social Welfare
Delhi should provide equal opportunities across all sections of the society. There should be no appeasement of specific people in a community. Policies should focus on equal access to education, health and job opportunities.
The policy of social justice has failed to live up to the constitutional promise. State policies for disadvantaged communities have been reduced to one or two highly visible tokenistic measures, which do not help the community substantially but succeed in generating resentment among the rest of the society. Many of these communities have developed a small class of beneficiaries with vested interests who maintain the present system. Political parties have developed a vested interest in keeping these communities vulnerable and dependent on state largesse.
Delhi would uphold the spirit of the constitution by instituting a system of social justice that addresses the substantive concerns of these communities, effectively. This would involve:
- Identification of disadvantaged in a transparent and evidence-based manner.
- Revisiting the definition and boundaries of beneficiary communities.
- Focusing on issues such as education, health and livelihoods and searching for new and efficient mechanisms for implementing social justice.
Protecting the Constitutional Rights of the Vulnerable
We will ensure that policies of reservation concerning the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Caste sections are enforced in Delhi government jobs. Entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes will be provided zero or low-interest loans to set up businesses. Procedures for obtaining caste certificates will be simplified.
We will take steps to end the discrimination against and harassment of denotified and nomadic communities in Delhi. The long neglected transgender community will be provided access to health, education and appropriate identity cards that will ease their engagement with institutions.
Life Of Dignity to the Safai Karamchari
Both the BJP and the Congress, which control the MCD and the NDMC respectively, have done little to improve the plight of the “safai karamcharis” by increasing safeguards in their hazardous line of work, providing them education and better opportunities for employment and, above all, giving them the dignity they deserve. Our government will provide the following measures for “safai karamchari”:
AAP will end contractualisation in “safai karamchari” posts and will regularize existing employees. Workers who enter sewers will be provided with protective gear, masks and appropriate equipment. Like fire fighters, they will receive medical insurance. To help in their career advancement, safai karamcharis will be provided assistance in education and training. On the death of a “safai karamchari” on duty, Rs. 50 lakh will be given to the bereaved family.
Peace, Justice and Equality for Minorities
The recent communal tension witnessed in Delhi is totally out of sync with the social fabric of the city. Attacks on and untoward incidents around places of worship as well as inflammatory speeches made across Delhi are something that AAP stands firmly against. Aam Aadmi Party is committed to putting an end to communal tension and riots by ensuring equal rights and security to the communities. We believe that both the communal politics of the BJP as well as the vote-bank politics of the Congress need to be opposed and exposed.
We will set up peace committees coordinated by Mohalla Sabhas to ensure harmony in every constituency. We are committed to improving the quality of education in government schools across Delhi and ensuring that children of all communities have equal access to them.
We will resolve the issue of inadequate land for graveyards in Delhi. We will bring transparency in the functioning of Delhi Waqf Board and ensure that encroachments on Waqf property by private parties and the government are removed.
Justice for the Victims of 1984
- The 1984 anti-Sikh carnage was one of the lowest points in the history of Delhi. Those responsible continue to roam scot-free. The Aam Aadmi Party understands the feeling widespread in the Sikh community that they have been denied justice. Further, the fact that the BJP-led government at the Centre still feels the need to constitute a committee to decide whether an SIT is needed or not on this issue is mystifying. We promise to notify the SIT that we had ordered in January 2014 to reinvestigate the 1984 anti-Sikh killings, particularly the involvement of high profile Congress leaders. Cases where investigations were not carried out properly or witness testimonies not recorded will be reopened.
- Many victims of the killings live in colonies like Tilak Vihar that lack adequate facilities like roads, sewers and water supply. Infrastructure would be developed in these areas and all efforts made to give the community the confidence that it is an integral part of Delhi’s fabric.
Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disability
The Aam Aadmi Party government is committed to protecting the rights of Persons with Disability (PwD), and hopes to make Delhi an example for the rest of the country. We will take the following steps in this direction:
- Enhance the definition of disability and ensure the implementation of the 3 percent reservation for persons with disability.
- Help children with disability get admission into schools and colleges; provide financial support to institutions catering to their needs.
- Establish a special governmental body to protect the rights of persons with disability.
- Work toward making Delhi’s public buildings, educational institutions and entertainment areas completely accessible and barrier-free.
Promoting Sports and Culture
The indifferent state of Delhi’s sports and cultural environment has seldom received the comprehensive attention that it demands in the agenda of any national political party. Result – Delhi, which boasts of a dozen world-class stadiums and 14 large sports complexes, has still not developed a world class sporting environment to match or a proper system for identifying and tapping talent by catching them young. The lack of access to stadiums is symptomatic of the distance that has existed between earlier governments and the people whom they claim to represent. Similarly, the AAP government will take the following steps to rectify the situation:
- All Sports Authorities in Delhi shall be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information Act and the Delhi Jan Lokpal. Corruption in these authorities would be strictly clamped down upon.
- Sports facilities built for the Commonwealth Games will be made available for sports persons in Delhi. Sports complexes will be set up in villages to nurture and promote talent.
- Recreation Centers would be established for senior citizens in each Mohalla/Ward where the elderly can read and engage in other leisure activities.
- We will open up Delhi’s sports stadiums to its youth.
- The running of DDA sports complexes will be made transparent to prevent vested interests from vitiating the atmosphere.
- There are more than 3,000 government schools and university playgrounds in Delhi that remain vacant after school hours. These will be made available to the children of the local community.
- A Public Library will be established in each Assembly constituency in Delhi. The upkeep and maintenance of the libraries would be handled in collaboration with the local Mohalla Sabha.
- To promote and enhance the Delhi Public Library Network, AAP will create reading areas in public spaces like community halls to provide access to all. Apart from reading material, each library would have an online browsing section for the public.
- We will provide second-language status to Urdu and Punjabi. An adequate number of teachers will be employed for teaching Urdu and Punjabi. Research in Urdu and Punjabi shall be encouraged in various Delhi state universities. Study and research in Sanskrit will also be encouraged.
Big Change without Big Spending
In conclusion, AAP has changed the paradigm of governance in Delhi and has constantly sought to innovate in framing policy. Delhi Dialogue was our initiative to obliterate the walls between government and the people. Our immediate action plan is outlined in the 70-point action plan for Delhi of Delhi; our detailed manifesto outlines our vision for Delhi in the long run. However, the common theme across all policy interventions is the following motto: “Big Change without Big Spending”.
Delhi has a budget of Rs. 36,700 crores with a planned expenditure of around Rs. 16,700 crores. We devolve around Rs. 3500 crores to NDMC, the trifurcated MCD and the Delhi Cantonment Board annually with their collective spending pegged at around Rs. 13000 crore. We will ensure that these civic bodies and municipal agencies function with synchronicity and accountability. However, we know our limitations and realize that the only way to deliver our promises is to look for innovative solutions, spend efficiently and raise revenue.
And we have many such innovative solutions. For example, as a start to solve Delhi’s housing crisis, our research found 200 acres of DUSIB land unused especially in Kasturba Niketan, Sawda Ghewra and Balaswa, where we will build housing for the middle class and society’s economically weaker sections.
Similarly, we will foster business and startups who face prohibitive costs of office space in Delhi by creating startup incubation spaces based on the Plug ‘n’ Play model.
There is a shortage of schools in Delhi. We will create 500 new schools to solve our education seat capacity crisis, but we are considering several steps to solve the issue on an immediate basis. Allowing common usage of playgrounds by schools to open more schools, increasing the number of storeys in MCD and Delhi Government schools and adoption of schools by non-profits to provide model administration and teaching methods are a few of them.
Centralized drug procurement to eliminate corruption based on the Rajasthan model, usage of bio digester and eco toilets based on success stories in Kerala where laying sewage networks is next to impossible and implementing premium water quality treatment plants based on models from the US Army are ample evidence that we’re happy to learn from national and international success stories.
Our manifesto has spelt our vision to raise revenue via job creation, employment generation, startup promotion, business incubation and effective tax collection, whilst also detailing our agenda items and focus areas where we’re committed to spend the government’s political and financial capital. However, the most important takeaway for you is that an Aam Aadmi Party government will be a vote for clean politics, honest governance, responsive and participatory decision-making and elimination of private profit from public good.
Come! Let’s make Delhi a World-Class City!
Jai Hind!
My Experiments with Politics and Policy In India 