A Year Of AAP Government

                                                 A year has passed, i must say a glorified year when a mob of people surged ahead to claim highest seat of governance in Delhi under Arvind Kejriwal. A new dawn had emerged when people tired of corruption, sycophancy ,nepotism ,arrogance of established political parties voted in mass to decimate established politicians. It all started with India against corruption agitation by Anna Hazare against numerous scams of UPA government that polarized and awakened society. The transformation of movement into political party (AAP) and emergence of Arvind Kejriwal clout and anointment as CM is a truly celluloid blockbuster story.

                                         Over 60% of Delhi population lives in slums and unauthorized colonies with no basic infrastructure. Arvind successfully struck a direct chord with urban poor Delhi voter (AAP got 65% of urban poor vs 23% to BJP) which resulted in securing 67 of the 70 Assembly seats. 

                                      Kejriwal who was frequently being accused of anarchists and dramebaaz quickly transformed himself as administrator by executing poll promises .Some of the major achievements of AAP government as propagated are - 

a) Removal of red beacons and end of VIP culture 

b) Electricity rates reduced by 50% for up to 400 units of consumption

c) 20,000 litres of free water per month per connection

d) 300+ night shelters for the homeless established

e) CAG audit of power discoms ordered

f) In Delhi Jal Board, 800 employees transferred, 3 suspended for corruption

g) Anti-corruption helpline 1031 started

h) Nursery admission helpline started

i) Awarded Rs. 1 crore to family of police constable who died fighting the liquor mafia

j) Inspection of 500+ govt schools by volunteers completed

k) 36000 contract jobs were made permanent which benefited around 1,80,000 people

                                       I believe its too early to gauge performance of government but few shortcomings that hogged limelight are startling. Firstly, AAP government has provided cheap electricity by giving direct subsidy to distribution companies (discoms) is disappointing as freebies like these end up ruining state budget and the proposal for Comptroller and Auditor (CAG) looking at the books of the discoms remains entangled in litigation.

                                    Another half cooked idea which later turned out to be stunt was commendable decision to scrap the quotas in private schools.The decision was to scrap  75 percent of the total seats quota except 25 percent for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), and thus seats will be up for grabs by all admission seekers. It is no secret that the mafia had captured the education system and made it a business,its the biggest scandal of independent India . The government rightfully tried to bring in some sanity in admission process but alas in haste as the decision was set aside by court.

                                  This problem was because of scarcity of schools and one major reason for all this is the poor state of public schools. Government should have given advisory to private school management to gradually transform them instead of directly attacking their freedom in running school .Truth is government should have focused on improving the infrastructure and recruited better quality teachers to uplft standard of schools.

                                 Another stunt orchestrated by AAP was implementation of odd-even scheme,initially it was inferred to reduce air pollution (even though car pollution is less then 2%) but ended up increasing hardships of common man due to woefully inadequate public transport while air pollution remained static as studies by IIT Kanpur suggest.

                                    The pathetic response of AAP government towards strike by Municipal Corporation of Delhi employees resulted in the pile up of garbage on Delhi streets and unavailability of doctors and teachers who also joined the strike. Allocation of Rs.536 crores in the Delhi budget to self promoting ads, raising salaries of MLA's , unceremoniously kicking out the Bhushans and Yogendra Yadav for dissension are few other things that hogged the limelight.For all his failures and frequent rundown with LG ,Kejriwal tries to shift blame on Central govt. Being an IRS(Indian Revenue Service)  officer he was well aware of the constitutional limitations of Delhi yet he made false promises which didn't see the light of the day .Tempting people with promises and then shifting blame on others for non fulfillment is a shrewd thing .

                                          Truth is Kejriwal has no solution to the spiraling problems of the people –massive poverty, massive unemployment, massive malnourishment, almost total lack of healthcare, lack of infrastructure in slums and unrecognized colonies, deplorable condition of schools etc. are some other problems seeking immediate attention and Kejriwal should direct his energies towards fulfillment of problems and showcasing a governance model for other political parties to emulate.

In the words of Santosh Hegde - http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/aap-occupies-the-exact-space-it-promised-to-cleanse-santosh-hegde-on-eksaalkejriwal-1454757458.html?utm_source=AjayPratap&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=AjayPratap_Promo

                                 A party which emerged from the fire of anti corruption crusade seeking transparency in political horizon is now neck deep in the slumber as dissent is not tolerated read the article to understand the pain http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/dear-kejriwal-its-time-to-steer-aap-back-to-the-values-from-where-it-emerged/

                                        It would be premature to judge a political party and its performance in one year's time but as an Indian and a firm believer of democracy we need a strong,vibrant, political party apart from the usual choices we have and we can't afford to let a party of volunteers transitioned into being self centered ,mired in sycophancy and run on whims and fancy of few.