CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has made a fourth promise for poll-bound Punjab.
He said high quality and free education for every child will be his party’s priority if it comes to power. He also promised an honorarium of Rs 1 crore for families of soldiers who died on duty.
Speaking during AAP’s Tiranga Yatra in Pathankot, Kejriwal said, “Like in Delhi, AAP government will provide the best and free government education in Punjab. Children of the rich and the poor will receive the same education. The development of Punjab and the country is possible only if children get free education,” he said, adding that 25 per cent of the Delhi government’s budget is spent on education.
Kejriwal said 99.97 per cent students of Delhi government schools have cleared board exams, and students of these schools have secured admission in medical and engineering courses.
He said before AAP came to power, the state of education in Delhi government schools was bad, which his government rectified.
Referring to the government education system in Punjab, Kejriwal said teachers in the state were unhappy as they were not paid a respectable salary.
Appealing for the formation of AAP government in Punjab, Kejriwal said new schools will be built and old, renovated.
Delhi’s Deputy CM and Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the pitiable condition of government schools in the Chamkaur Sahib Assembly constituency of CM Charanjit Singh Channi shows how bad things are.
A temporary teacher earns Rs 6,000. Kejriwal said the government in Delhi pays Rs 1 crore as honorarium to the families of army personnel, police personnel and government employees who die in the line of duty.