Lauding about Delhi, MLA Atishi during an address at the ICLEI World Congress 2022 at Sweden’s Malmo Summit today highlighted about Delhi Model where, she said that if Delhi – a city with 30 million residents – can move towards equity and inclusion, then I believe that every city in the world can do the same.

Atishi said, “The per capita income of Delhi is 3 times higher than the rest of the country and state GDP has increased 150% in the last decade..”

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She added, “As we gather today at the Malmo Summit to discuss equity and inclusion, we must remember that we live in a world of inequity and exclusion. 1 in 3 people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water. Over 200 million people in the world are going to be unemployed in 2022.”

85% of the world’s population put together does not have access to even half the resources that are available to 1% of the world’s population. Cities – especially in the Global South- face some of the deepest inequalities in this world, Atishi added.

She questioned, As we look to create more equitable and inclusive cities, we are often asked – will equity, inclusion and sustainability come at the cost of economic growth?

Talking about Delhi’s government schools, Atishi added, “Government schools – that in 2015 looked dilapidated have been getting better results than private schools for the last 4 years.”

Last year, two hundred thousand students shifted from private schools to government schools, she added.

The MLA further said, “All this has been achieved with increasing revenues and budget sizes at the same time. The total budget of Delhi has increased from Rs.300 billion (in 2015) to 750 billion (in 2022). And every year, the Delhi Government has increased its revenues and had a revenue-surplus budget.’