Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced 10 ‘Kejriwal Guarantees’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha elections, including 24-hour electricity and 200 units of free electricity to all the poor in the country, education, and better healthcare.
The AAP’s national convenor asserted that if the Opposition INDIA bloc comes to power, he would make sure that these promises are fulfilled.
Calling Kejriwal’s guarantee “a brand”, the chief minister said, “This (the announcement) was delayed due to my arrest but it still has relevance since many phases of elections are due. I have not discussed it with the rest of the INDIA but this is like a guarantee that no one would have any problems with it. I take this guarantee that after the INDIA alliance comes to power, I will make sure that these guarantees are implemented.”
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and Delhi Cabinet Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi, he said, “These 10 guarantees are like the vision of India. There are some things that should have been completed in the last 75 years… These are like laying the foundation stone of any nation. Without them, the nation cannot move ahead. Those works will be completed in the next five years.”
Elaborating on his guarantees, “Of the 10 guarantees, the first is that we will provide 24-hour electricity in the country. The country has the capacity to generate three lakh MW of electricity while only two lakh MW is generated. Our country can produce more electricity than the demand. We have done it in Delhi and Punjab, we will do it in the country also as we have experience. We will provide up to 200 units of free electricity to all the poor. It will cost Rs 1.25 lakh crore, we can arrange it.”
The second guarantee is to provide free education. Presenting the figures, Kejriwal said, “The second guarantee free education. About 18 crore students, who study in 10 lakh government schools, have no future. Today, the condition of our government schools is not good. Our second guarantee is that we will arrange good and excellent free education for everyone, be it a child belonging to a poor or a rich family.”
He further said, “Government schools will provide a better education than private schools. We have done it in Delhi and Punjab. This work should have been done at the time of independence only. Rs 5 lakh crore will be required for this. State governments will give Rs 2.5 lakh crore and central government will give Rs 2.5 crore for this…”
The third guarantee of Kejriwal is to provide better healthcare. Kejriwal said, “Today, the condition of our government hospitals is not good, hence the guarantee for better healthcare. We will ensure good treatment for everyone. Mohalla clinics will be opened in every village, every locality.”
He also assured that every citizen of the country would get free treatment. “District hospitals will be converted into multispeciality hospitals. Every person born in this country will get free treatment. Treatment will not be done on the basis of insurance as this is a big scam. We will create infrastructure. Rs 5 lakh crore will be spent on healthcare. The state government will spend Rs 2.5 lakh crore and the Central government will spend Rs 2.5 lakh crore,” Kejriwal said.
The fourth guarantee in the list of Kejriwal is ‘Nation First’. Asserting that the land occupied by China will be freed, he said, “Our fourth guarantee is ‘Nation first’. China has occupied our land but our Central government is denying it… There is a lot of strength in our Army. All the land of the country that has been occupied by China will be freed. For this, efforts will be made at the diplomatic level on the one hand and the Army will be given complete freedom to take whatever steps it wants to take regarding this on the other.”
Targeting the Agniveer Scheme, the Delhi CM said, “A scheme like Agniveer is harmful to the Army and to the youth as well. The Agniveer Scheme will be withdrawn…”
The AAP on its official X handle posted the guarantees which include the soldiers for whom the Agniveer scheme will be closed and all military recruitments will be done according to the old process. All the fire warriors recruited so far will be confirmed.
For farmers of the country, the party promised that by determining the MSP on all crops according to the Swaminathan Commission, farmers would be provided with full prices for their crops.
The AAP also vowed to get Delhi the status of a full state.
On unemployment, the AAP said it would be removed in a systematic manner and promised that two crore jobs would be created in the next year.
The ninth guarantee addresses corruption. The party said the existing system of sending honest people to jail and giving protection to the corrupt will be abolished.
The tenth guarantee is related to the business in which the AAP said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be ended. He said the GST will be taken out of PMLA (The Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and all laws and administrative systems will be simplified to promote trade and industry on a large scale.