NEW DELHI: The first day of the budget session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday saw three BJP members marshalled out after they protested the delay in action by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the JNU sedition case. The leader of the opposition, Vijender Gupta, along with other members protested over the issue in the well of the House during Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s speech, for which they were marshalled out of the Assembly.
“We demanded answers from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as to when he is going to accord sanction for prosecution of JNUs “tukre-tukre” gang. But unfortunately, the CM remained silent and we were marshalled out because we raised questions” Gupta said later. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel asked Gupta, OP Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan to refrain from protesting during Baijal’s speech. The MLAs, however, went to the well of the House and continued to raise their demands.
In his speech, Baijal listed many of the AAP government’s achievements in the past year.
He said the Delhi government was committed to the welfare of people and its actions had added impetus to the development process in the city.
“In 2018-19, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is estimated to be Rs 7,79,652 crore, registering a growth of 12.98 per cent. While the economy of the state has flourished, it is imperative that all sections of the population become beneficiaries of this growth. The growth has to be inclusive to uplift the conditions of the weaker sections of the population,” Baijal said, adding that “the per capita income of Delhi is indicating a growth of 11.11 per cent.”
Speaking about the education sector, he said a number of initiatives had been taken by the government to improve the sector. He mentioned the ‘Happiness Curriculum’ introduced in government-run schools under the AAP administration.
“To strengthen the school infrastructure, construction of 31 new school buildings has been started. The government has approved construction of 12,700 additional classrooms in existing schools for increased access to education and to achieve the ideal pupil-teacher ratio,” said Baijal.Leader of the opposition Vijender Gupta termed the speech “lifeless and misleading”. “He (LG) appeared to be separated from the government at both emotional and mental levels,” he said.
GDP grew 12.98%
In 2018-19, the Gross State Domestic Product of Delhi is estimated to be Rs 7,79,652 crore, registering a growth of 12.98 per cent, and the per capita income of Delhi is indicating a growth of 11.11 per cent, L-G Anil Baijal said in his speech. Delhi accounted for 4.14 per cent of India’s GDP in 2018-19.