Delhi rule reeks of colonial era; statehood must: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Centre was taking away the powers of the elected government, which is similar to how the country was run under the colonial Government of India Act, 1935.

Demanding full statehood for Delhi, Kejriwal on the occasion of Independence Day said the elected government here does not have the right to take independent decisions.

“Under the Government of India Act 1935, citizens had the right to choose their representatives, but Britishers had powers to run the government. Currently, the Centre has established the system of Raj-era law in Delhi,” Kejriwal told the audience at Chattrasal stadium on Monday.

The chief minister questioned if the votes of Delhiites were less important than the citizens of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana who elect their governments to power.

“If the value of their votes amount to 100 points, then the value of Delhiites’ vote equal to less than 20 points. Are they less patriotic than the people of other citizens? The people of Delhi pay taxes as well and their democratic rights should be valued,” he said.

Kejriwal added the people of Delhi were angry the way the Centre was creating ‘hurdles’  the elected government to function.

Despite the powers of the AAP government being taken away in the past one and a half years, the Delhi government has established a model of ‘development’ in education and health in the world, claimed Kejriwal.

“The developmental work undertaken by the government in education, health and skill development is being discussed in Europe and China. Earlier, the government schools were  a sham. The ministers of the earlier governments were running the private schools in Delhi. The condition deteriorated every day. What our government has achieved in the last one and a half years is historic.”

Highlighting the achievements of the government, the chief minister said the AAP government has put an end to the “mafia” system in the educational system in the city and created 8,000 new classrooms in government schools and checked overcharging by private schools.

Kejriwal announced the decision of the Delhi Government to increase the minimum wages in the capital. The minimum wages of unskilled labour would be increased from Rs 9,500 to Rs 14,000, semi-skilled labour from Rs 10,600 to Rs 15,500.