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Also, there is a 30-day plan, a 100-day plan, a 365-day plan, and five clear priority areas where the new government wants to work and bring a visible difference to the national capital
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and new Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta. (File images: PTI)
Nearly seven lakh families in Delhi will get the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat medical insurance scheme for the first time. About 25 lakh women could get Rs 2,500 per month in their bank accounts next month. The long-term projects to clean the Yamuna and resolve the air pollution in the city will get a kick-start. LPG cylinders will be cheaper at Rs 500. And work is beginning on a war footing to repair roads and clean garbage.
Most importantly, though, will the Rekha Gupta government send Arvind Kejriwal to jail again by setting up a special investigation team to investigate AAP’s alleged corruption scams?
First, let’s talk about what is on the table for new Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and how she is hitting the ground running when it comes to the BJP’s promise of transforming the capital. There is a 30-day plan, a 100-day plan, a 365-day plan, and five clear priority areas where the government wants to work and bring a visible difference to the national capital in the eyes of the people.
Let’s decode these five priority areas:
1) Ayushman Bharat roll-out: This scheme is the number one priority of the Rekha Gupta government. Until 2023, only three states had not adopted the scheme: Delhi, West Bengal, and Odisha. The objection was over political reasons, as Odisha adopted the scheme soon after the BJP came to power there in 2023, and now Delhi will be following suit.
Ayushman Bharat implementation is also the first decision of the cabinet of the Rekha Gupta government. In addition to the Rs 5 lakh medical insurance cover that comes for a poor family under Ayushman Bharat, the Delhi government will give a top-up cover of another Rs 5 lakh, taking the total cover to Rs 10 lakh. Also, everyone above 70 years of age in Delhi will get this coverage irrespective of their income status. Nearly seven lakh poor families in Delhi will benefit. The Prime Minister in his election rallies had apologised to Delhi’s people for not being able to offer Ayushman Bharat cover to them as the Aam Aadmi Party government had refused to cooperate.
There will be certain steps before residents start getting the cover. Very soon, the Delhi government will sign an MoU with the Centre to implement the scheme in the national capital. The idea is to enrol at least one lakh people under the scheme in the first 30 days and hand them over Ayushman cards. Another aspect of the health benefit for citizens is to upgrade the existing 553 Mohalla clinics in the national capital and rebrand them as Urban Ayushman Aarogya Mandir. 413 more such clinics will be opened in Delhi with an expanded range of medical services at the people’s doorstep.
2) Scheme of Rs 2500 per month for women: This is another big priority of the Rekha Gupta government. A woman herself, Gupta has promised that Rs 2,500 per month will go into the bank accounts of poor women in Delhi by March 8. This was also the big poll promise of the BJP by way of the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana. Delhi has over 72 lakh women above the age of 18 years, and the former AAP government had promised Rs 2,100 per month to nearly 45 lakh women after excluding taxpayers but including all others, also comprising the middle class.
The BJP’s scheme promises the benefit only for the poor, so the beneficiary number could come down to about 25 lakh women, depending on the criteria for “poor” that is fixed by the new government. Former CM Atishi is already targeting the new government over the delay in implementing the scheme. Chief minister Rekha Gupta, however, has said she is committed to the scheme that will first cover the deprived sections of society and may be extended to others later. Women have voted in large numbers for the BJP in these elections and are awaiting their reward. A cabinet nod is expected soon.
3) CAG reports in assembly, SIT against AAP: There could be fireworks on the political front too as the BJP government would hold true to its promise of tabling all 14 pending C&AG reports in the state assembly in the first session from February 24. The reports could be tabled on February 25 after the L-G addresses the House. The Rekha Gupta government will also announce a special investigation team after the C&AG reports are public—with an idea to expose all the alleged corruption scams under the former AAP government.
These C&AG reports cover various irregularities, like in the “Sheeshmahal case” and the “liquor scam”, among others, which are already under probe by central investigating agencies. Arvind Kejriwal during the election campaign had himself raised the fear that he would have to go to jail again if the BJP won. The new chief minister has, however, said that there will be no witch hunt.
4) Clean Yamuna campaign and solving air pollution: These are long-term projects, but Rekha Gupta has made her intent clear by visiting the Yamuna ghat on the very day she took the oath and stressing the party’s commitment to clean the ‘Yamuna-ji” in a time-bound manner. This will require a multi-pronged approach, like stopping industrial waste discharge in the Yamuna and working with neighbouring states like Haryana.
The same goes for air pollution, which has been a bane for Delhi in the winter months and an international embarrassment as Delhi has been dubbed the most polluted city in the world. AAP could not resolve it despite having governments both in Delhi and Punjab for the last three years. Stubble burning in Punjab remains a big issue, and with the BJP now in power in Delhi and AAP in Punjab, expect the war of words to only escalate.
5) Sanitation, roads, water: Last but certainly not least, Rekha Gupta knows resolving the civic issues in Delhi matters most to the people. And this is expected to happen on a war footing. Like the repair of potholed roads in Delhi, cleaning the streets of garbage, improving the quality of drinking water, and desilting drains ahead of the monsoon season so that roads are not left waterlogged like earlier. The chief minister has already asked for reports from the PWD to start the project of repairing the roads and ensuring sanitation. In fact, the CM has said a separate team could be formed to deal with the water-logging issue.
With the state government now on the same page as the lieutenant governor, things are expected to move fast and smoothly, unlike under the former AAP regime, which was always at war with the L-G and the Centre. Delhi has given a chance to this triple engine of the Centre, the Delhi government, and the L-G now.
Will this transform Delhi?
