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Jobs, Wi-Fi, college admissions: AAP's poll promises to Delhi's youth

Last updated on: November 15, 2014 20:49 IST

Kickstarting its interactive sessions to connect with the masses and woo voters ahead of Delhi assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday launched a five-point programme for youth, guaranteeing higher education by setting up 20 new colleges and having Wi-Fi connectivity across Delhi.

The party formally launched the Delhi Dialogue, an interactive initiative to connect with voters of different stratas of society, and spelled out its strategy for youth. The party will come up with a 50-point programme catering to different sections of the society.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal dances with artists after the first Delhi Dialogue event at Jantar Mantar. Photograph: PTI photo

Highlighting the issue of admission, faced by students especially after class XII, AAP’s chief Arvind Kejriwal said the main cause of the problem was lack of infrastructure in the education sector.

 
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal speaks at the launch of the party’s Delhi Dialogue, to interact with people from different fields, ahead of the assembly elections in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI photo

“No new college has been built for the past last 15-20 years, which is leading to this problem. Giving education to the these students will be government’s responsibility. We will double the number of existing seats and construct 20 new colleges for the youth.

“Many villages have also complained about lack of educational institutions. The government will built colleges in these villages to ensure that the students there get admission,” Kejriwal said at the function held at Jantar Mantar.

AAP supporters gather at Jantar Mantar to hear Kejriwal’s speech. Photograph: PTI photo

He said that the government will also ensure that students get loan for pursuing their education. “The government will also be a guarantor to these students so that they don’t have to mortgage their property and valuables to get education,” he said.

The AAP chief also tried to woo the youth by making Delhi a Wi-Fi city. “We are working on the details to have Wi-Fi across Delhi,” he said.

The former chief minister said, if his party came to power, it will fill some 50,000 vacancies of doctors, teachers, nurses and other professionals in the Delhi government.

Kejriwal said his government will not ‘snatch’ the employment of youth, but work towards it. He said lack of infrastructure and wrong policies were leading to business moving out of the capital.        

Emphasising the role of sports, he said the government will not only create and upgrade the sports infrastructure, but also adopt the best talents and promote them. He said the government was ready to develop sports infrastructure in far-flung villages of Delhi if they offered land.

Other AAP leaders were also present for the event. At the event, Kejriwal spoke about college admissions and other youth-related issues. Photograph: PTI photo

Expressing concern about the growing drug menace in the country, Kejriwal said his party will ensure that the national capital does not become a second Punjab. “The party has decided to provide mobile governance to people following which Delhiites can connect to government through their smartphones. People can also see government’s works and even discuss their problems with government on their phones due to which city can be made a corruption-free,” AAP leader Ashish Khetan, who is heading the Delhi Dialogue team, said.

Another senior party leader Yogendra Yadav also said, “AAP has initiated new rules of politics in Delhi. We have sought suggestions of people to make blueprint of our election manifesto. I would also like to know from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress to adopt such pattern and compared their manifestos to ours which one is good.”

Yadav also said that party will focus on different issues like women security, employment, education, health and among others.

The next round of Delhi dialogue would be on November 26, the foundation day of the party. On that day, the party will spell out its agenda on women’s security.

 

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