Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called an all-party meeting on Thursday to discuss the ‘one time settlement’ scheme with regard to the pending water bills of the Delhi Jal Board.
The meeting was attended by Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf. However, the BJP boycotted the meeting stating that they would have joined if other issues like alleged air flow meter scam would also had been discussed.
According to the AAP, the Congress leaders extended unwavering support to the proposed measures in the meeting.
Delhi Water Minister Atishi and Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj dwelt on the intricacies of the ‘One Time Settlement Scheme’ for inflated water bills during the meeting.
Kejriwal said the absence of the BJP in the meeting indicated their opposition to the scheme even though it would waive off the bills of 90 per cent of the people upon its implementation.
The Congress reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with the government in alleviating the burden on Delhiites.
“We should expose the BJP in front of the people of Delhi because they are engaging in very dirty politics. If BJP has any suggestions, we will consider them,” the CM said.
Elaborating on the scheme, the Delhi CM said, “Our assessment is that with the implementation of the ‘One-Time Settlement Scheme’, water bills of nearly 90 per cent of the people will be waived. However, the Delhi government will have to provide subsidy money to the Delhi Jal Board, and after this scheme revenue will come to the Delhi Jal Board.
After the all-party meeting, the Delhi urban development minister and the Congress president jointly addressed the media.
“We have also discussed this policy with LG Sahab and raised the matter in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. A resolution has also been passed in the assembly. Despite this, the ‘One-Time Settlement Scheme’ has not yet come to the cabinet. Because this is a big issue related to the people of Delhi. Therefore, a decision was taken a few days ago to hold an all-party meeting so that major political parties could discuss and deliberate on this public interest issue beyond their party lines,” Bharadwaj said.
“Regarding Delhi’s water bills, we received an invitation for an all-party meeting from the chief minister’s side. As a responsible political party, Congress participated in this meeting. I believe that in the matter of providing relief to the people of Delhi, no political party should show any weakness or reluctance fundamentally,” said the Delhi Congress chief while addressing the media.