Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday indicated that the restrictions imposed in the city to bring the Covid-19 situation under control would be withdrawn soon as the coronavirus infection positivity rate had come down considerably. During the past 10 days, the positivity rate had fallen by 20 percent and the daily positivity rate had decreased to 10 percent from 30 percent on 15 January.
Hoisting the Tricolour on the occasion of the Republic Day celebrations, the Chief Minister said, “The restrictions imposed to fight Covid-19 were making life difficult for the poor. We do not want to impose such curbs to make your life tough, but the daily rise in coronavirus cases forced us to take this harsh measure. Soon, we will withdraw these restrictions so that people lead a normal life again.”
He pointed out that 100 percent of eligible people in Delhi had got vaccinated with the first dose and 82 percent with the second dose.
Kejriwal said, “A few traders met me last week with their demand for the lifting of the weekend curfew and for doing away with the odd-even formula for the opening of shops. I assured them to do all I can to get their demands accepted.”
The Delhi government sent a proposal to Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on Friday for easing the restrictions, including the withdrawal of the weekend curfew. The L-G agreed to allow the functioning of private offices with 50 percent attendance in physical form, but “deferred the other recommendations,” Kejriwal said.
The file with the Delhi government’s recommendations was forwarded to the office of the Lieutenant-Governor for his approval, but the government’s proposals were rejected.
The L-G’s response was that a decision on lifting the weekend curfew and other restrictions would be taken once the Covid-19 situation was further better.
“But L-G sahib is a nice person. We will together do away with the curbs soon”, Kejriwal added.
The Chief Minister said he was greatly impressed by the contribution of BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh to India’s freedom movement. He shed light on how Ambedkar, coming from very poor family background, succeeded in getting highly educated to reach the level of giving the country its Constitution.
Kejriwal announced that now photos of these two leaders would adorn the offices of the Delhi government. There will now be no photos of Chief Ministers or any other politicians in the Delhi government’s offices.
He said, “Baba Sahib Ambedkar had a dream — every child, irrespective of his family background, must get the best quality of education possible. We will fulfill his dream now”, Kejriwal declared as he appreciated the achievements of his government in the field of education during these seven years his party has been in power in Delhi.
“We got a certificate for our achievements in the education sector when former US President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, visited our schools”, he asserted.