Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, flagged off the Punjab government’s latest pro-people, ambitious initiative – ‘Bhagwant Mann Sarkar, Tuhade Dwar’, or doorstep delivery of 43 government services such as income certificate, caste certificate and more in a public meeting in Ludhiana.
The scheme, billed by Kejriwal as an “anti-corruption” measure, was launched in Delhi a few years ago and is one of the AAP government’s most popular initiatives.
Speaking on the occasion, Kejriwal said, “Today is a revolutionary day, not just for Punjab, but for the entire country. Our freedom fighters like Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh did not sacrifice their lives for people to wander in government offices in independent India. They sacrificed their lives so that when the country attains freedom, people would get benefits, good education, good health, medicines, roads, electricity and water. However, in the past 75 years, the system that now exists forces a common man to do make rounds of government offices even for small tasks. This initiative today in Punjab is no less than a revolution. This should have happened 75 years ago.”
HOW IT WILL WORK
The Delhi CM then explained how the doorstep delivery system would work by dialing 1076. Giving the example of Delhi, he said the scheme was launched in September 2018 and in the past five years, lakhs of people have gotten their work done simply by making phone calls.
Taking potshots at opposition-ruled states, Kejriwal alleged, “If the Delhi government can do this, the Punjab government can do this, in 75 years, why did governments of other parties not do it? If the Delhi government did it five years ago, why did the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra governments not do it until now? Their intent is bad. When you go to get a birth certificate and give money to a dalal, that money goes not just to the dalal, but travels to officers, ministers and the chief minister. Whatever money you give to get birth certificates, death certificates, ration cards, old age pension travels to the chief minister. Today, you have elected an honest government, an honest chief minister, honest ministers, honest MLAs. We do not take money.”
Kejriwal also said that the Mann government had taken many steps to fight corruption, had caught “big fish”, raided and arrested “big leaders who had looted Punjab for 75 years”, and “money will be recovered from those who had looted Punjab and spent on the people”.
Referring to Mann’s move of asking people to record officers asking for bribes, Kejriwal said that it had led to fear within the bureaucracy and officers had stopped working. “This step today is the biggest move against corruption by Mann. Coming generations will remember that we had got independence on August 15, 1947, and for Punjab, the second is on December 10, 2023,” Kejriwal explained.
He also said that 4,000 young people will be employed in this process, in addition to the 40,000 government jobs already given.
“In the run-up to the elections, while asking for your votes, Mann and I had given you a guarantee that we will end corruption. Today, we are moving closer to fulfilling that guarantee. This is the AAP’s guarantee, this is no kacchi guarantee, ” Kejriwal underlined.
Mann thanked the AAP convenor for making possible what seemed like an “impossible idea”. “I have often spoken about this…so many people do uncountable rounds of government offices, their shoes may have worn off and beards turned white in the process, yet their work was not done; they were turned away disrespectfully and asked to return another day on some pretext or the other. I have seen many such episodes since I was a child. I had resolved that if I get an opportunity, I would put an end to this. Today is a big day for me. Today I am putting an end to ‘budhwaar-veervaar’.”
Quoting Surjeet, Mann said, “Pind wich jeede ghade chalde / hukumate sardari/ sehar jade ban jade/ bus di ek sawari.”
In other words, the identity of a person in the village is reduced to just a number in a city bus, and the pride of the person is dissolved by a small-ranking petty government babu, and promised to restore that pride. Mann also disclosed that the doorstep delivery of government services was close to his heart and he had often pressed Kejriwal about its implementation in Punjab. Mann argued that while asking for votes, leaders go to the doorstep of the people, yet while delivering services, governments ask people to come to Chandigarh, and this cannot continue, the government will have to go to the people.
True to the AAP’s style, the function was a mega event with thousands of people and AAP’s Punjab legislators RS MPs Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Sanjeev Arora, AAP’s Punjab ministers Harpal Cheema, Meet Hayer and other legislators in attendance. The huge hoarding in the backdrop had pictures of both Kejriwal and Mann at both ends.
The AAP supremo has been visiting Punjab regularly over the past few weeks — the last time was for flagging off the Punjab’s “tirth yatra”, a free pilgrimage service for the state’s old people. Huge mass contact programmes, where both Kejriwal and Mann are present, helps, party insiders believe, consolidate the support that the AAP currently enjoys.
Knowing that the Lok Sabha elections are a different game altogether, however, with the BJP not a major factor in Punjab, the AAP hopes to reap a rich harvest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. And thus, Kejriwal’s renewed forays into Punjab.
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