On Delhi’s Covid-19 fight, Centre can take all the credit, responsibility is mine: CM Arvind Kejriwal

It is the people of Delhi that have given birth to a new kind of politics, which we call “kaam ki rajneeti”, said CM Arvind Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is leading the fight against Covid-19 in Delhi and efforts to bring the capital’s economy back on track. He spoke to DH’s Anand Mishra and Shemin Joy on the Covid-19 pandemic and the political situation in the country. In this first part of the interview, Keiriwal explains his government’s efforts to tackle the pandemic and says that had he fought with the Modi government while Covid-19 cases were rising, the people of Delhi would have suffered. Here are the edited excerpts from the interview:

How do you score your government’s performance?

The people of Delhi are the best judge of our performance. They gave their verdict by giving us an unprecedented 62 out of 70 seats after a full five-year term. It is the people of Delhi that have given birth to a new kind of politics in this country, which we call “kaam ki rajneeti” (politics of work).

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Today, politics in this country has become synonymous with fighting over religious and caste issues, and in constant buying and selling of MLAs. Nobody seems to care about what is happening to the country, its people. We believe in ensuring dignity of life for every common man. Every person, rich or poor, should have the right to quality education, health, water, electricity and all such basic facilities. I believe that our country can truly become No.1 in the world if we invest in people first. We have the smartest people in the world, so many CEOs of top global firms are from India, yet we are a developing country.

No country has become a developed country without investing in the health and education of its people, yet we failed to do so for the last 70 years. We have done that in Delhi. Today, the entire country and the world are talking about the revolution happening in Delhi’s government schools, about our Mohalla clinics and how we have fought Covid-19 successfully. That’s an outcome of our “kaam ki rajneeti”, which is also now known as Delhi model of governance.

What are key lessons of the ‘Delhi model’ to fight Covid-19?

The situation in Delhi was under control till May-end. We had anticipated a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases with the opening up of Delhi, but the surge was more than expected. That’s when the entire city and its two crore people came together to bring Covid-19 under control in what is now popularly called the Delhi Model.Three key principles constitute the ‘Delhi model’.

The foundation of the Delhi Model is teamwork. The government cannot fight the pandemic without support from various stakeholders and interest groups. So we reached out to everyone - the Central government, various non-governmental organizations, Resident Welfare Associations, health workers and of course the two crore people of Delhi - and asked for their cooperation.

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The second principle of the model is acknowledging, appreciating and encouraging constructive criticism from stakeholders. And responding by working towards fixing the problems highlighted by others. For instance, in early June, we started receiving a lot of complaints of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, Delhi government’s largest Covid-19 hospital with 2,000 beds. Rather than clashing with those highlighting the issues, we understood them and fixed all those issues one by one.

The third principle is that no matter how bad the situation gets, you as a government cannot give up. Recently, the Karnataka Health Minister said: ‘Now only God can save us’. I can understand the anxiety and helplessness of the minister. But as a government, you cannot give up – because if you give up, then you cannot imagine the number of deaths that will lead you to.

In terms of specific actions, we pioneered many interventions like home isolation, a dedicated Covid-19 app giving real-time availability of Covid-19 beds and ventilators in both private and government hospitals and Plasma therapy, all of which were critical to deal with the surge in cases. In fact, Delhi’s home-isolation model is a global case study today. It has proven to be extremely successful in treating patients with mild symptoms, which in turn freed up hospital beds for critical patients.

How helpful has been plasma therapy in fight against Covid-19?

We studied the experiences of many countries and found Plasma therapy to be a promising option. I am not saying that plasma is the treatment for Covid-19 but even if there is a small chance to save someone’s life, we should try it. Delhi was the first to initiate trials of convalescent plasma therapy in April at LNJP, which showed encouraging results.

Subsequently, we launched the country’s first two plasma banks in Delhi in early July so that patients in need of plasma can get it free of cost and without any hassle. We are running large scale awareness campaigns to encourage recovered patients to donate their plasma, which was earlier an issue. All these efforts seem to have yielded results. So far, over 900 recovered patients have donated plasma and around 710 units of plasma have been used in recovery of patients across hospitals in Delhi.

The recovery rate in Delhi has gone up to 90 per cent and it has been possible because of measures like plasma therapy. Last week, when the United States announced its decision to promote plasma therapy among critical patients, I felt proud that what Delhi did yesterday, the US is doing today. Delhi has made the nation proud in this regard.

There was a perception battle over the fight against Covid-19. Do you concede that the Delhi government faltered?

We have worked closely with the Centre in tackling Covid-19, but we have had our share of disagreements, too. The Centre wanted to cancel our home isolation programme which was the main pillar of our overall Covid-19 strategy.

We opposed that decision. We sat down with them and cleared all their doubts and apprehensions. As for the credit for Covid-19 turnaround, I have said this before too, let them take all the credit, the responsibility is all mine.

As the Chief Minister of Delhi, it is my responsibility to take care of the people of my state. We had to seek everybody’s help to fight Covid-19 in Delhi, we sought Centre’s help too. They helped us with oxygen cylinders, ventilators, testing kits etc. This is such an unprecedented pandemic that one government can't fight it alone -- we need to work together with others.

Do you regret proposing the idea of Delhi hospital only for Delhi residents during the pandemic?

We had proposed in June that Delhi government’s hospitals, which have around 10,000 beds, and private hospitals should be reserved for Delhi’s residents for some time, while Central government hospitals in Delhi, which also have 10,000 beds can be open for everyone. That decision was taken in view of the projections in June that Delhi would have 5.5 lakh cases.

It was important for me to plan for the worst-case scenario for the residents of Delhi. Generally, more than 50% of hospital beds in Delhi are occupied by residents of surrounding states since the health infrastructure there is poor. We managed to control the spread of coronavirus in Delhi so we didn’t have to face that situation.

What are your plans to rejuvenate the economy?

We are barely collecting 40 per cent of last year’s revenues, which is a big concern. I think two factors are going to be most important. First, people will need to remove the fear of Covid-19 from their minds. Only then can businesses start opening up and consumers will start spending. Second, governments need to avoid imposing arbitrary lockdowns. Many states are imposing two-day, five-day lockdowns. This is not going to help, they will only hurt the economy further. Delhi is the best example of how we managed to control the spread of Covid due to sound management, and without resorting to lockdowns.

Each state will need to take specific measures to revive its economy. Delhi has already taken many decisions. For example, in the last month, we reduced the VAT on diesel by Rs 8.38 per litre in one go, allowed street vendors and weekly markets to start operating, de-linked hotels and banquet halls linked to our Covid hospitals so that they can start functioning normally and launched the Rozgar Bazaar jobs portal at jobs.delhi.gov.in to connect employers and job-seekers, which has received an overwhelming response. In just one month, 11 lakh job-seekers have registered and there are over 8 lakh active job vacancies on the portal.

I am holding regular meetings with traders, industrial associations, and businesses and listening to their suggestions so that together we can get Delhi’s economy back on track.

Do you think the Centre has responded well to Chinese aggression?

China has captured our land, that is clear. The country and we are with the Centre and the Army, but we want to get our land back. Nothing less is acceptable. Secondly, the stand-off is also a big economic opportunity.

India’s dependence in terms of imports from China is not healthy. Even our toys are coming from China. It would be understandable if we were importing advanced technology from there. Instead, we are importing goods for even our daily needs, which is affecting local production and jobs. I believe this is the opportunity when the central government should, on a war footing, create huge production facilities.

A sector-wise list of our dependence should be prepared, and industrialists should be invited. They should be given all facilities. It will end our dependence on China, create jobs and boost our economy.

When Delhi riots happened, Congress accused AAP of playing second fiddle to BJP. How do you respond to this?

Delhi riots were a blot on the entire country. Only AAP is asking tough questions and seeking accountability from the BJP and the Centre. Delhi’s courts themselves have raised serious questions on the fairness of Delhi Police’s investigations.

Read: What vision a ‘dead’ Congress can give when it cannot choose its president: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

We have also expressed our strong objection to the decision by the Centre-appointed Lieutenant-General to subvert the judicial process of Delhi riots by appointing its own public prosecutors instead of the Delhi government panel, as per the provisions of law. In both episodes, Congress has been completely silent.

Why is a perception gaining ground that you are no longer anti-BJP in the manner you used to be in the past?

My allegiance is to the people of Delhi and as their Chief Minister, I am ready to go to any extent to ensure their well-being. If that means I have to plead for help with the BJP-ruled Centre, I will do so. This entire episode of surge in Covid-19 cases is one example.

If at that time, I had brought my ego to the fore and fought with the BJP-ruled Centre, who would lose? At the same time, we have repeatedly raised our concerns and protested against the Centre.

Where do you see yourself and AAP going from here now?

Kejriwal has no ambition. It is the idea of AAP and its brand of politics that has caught people’s imagination across the country. We are still a young party though, and it takes time to expand all over India. We have formed the government thrice in Delhi and are the main opposition in Punjab. No other party has managed to do that in such a short span of time. We want to take our form of politics and governance to all parts of India.

Can you tell us more about AAP’s Oximitra campaign in Karnataka and rest of the country?

The Karnataka government is doing its best and to complement their efforts, I have asked all AAP volunteers to assist the people in screening for coronavirus by checking people’s oxygen levels through Oximeter -- they will be called Oximitras. Low oxygen levels is the most dangerous symptom of coronavirus. It can go unnoticed until patients get very serious. The Oximeter campaign covers as many villages of Karnataka as possible.

It involves four steps: 1) Any person who wants to help people fight coronavirus can register for the campaign. Volunteers are called Oximitras. 2) Our team will visit their home, give them a kit and train them how to use it. 3) One volunteer in each village or mohalla will set up an Oxygen Test Centre. Volunteers will go door to door to check people’s oxygen levels using Oximeters. If they find that oxygen is low, they will assist people in getting hospital admission. 4) If any of the persons feel they have Covid-19 symptoms, they can call Oximitras, who will come check their oxygen levels, and if it is low, help them get hospital admission.

We have launched this campaign nationally and have got tremendous response. Just last week in Ahmedabad, we found that a young boy had oxygen level below 80 per cent, which is quite dangerous. I urge all the people of Karnataka to come forward and volunteer in this campaign.

Part II - Congress is dead, it can’t be alternative: Arvind Kejriwal