AAP doing 'publicity stunts' on education, health: Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken

New Delhi: With the city heading towards municipal polls, Delhi Congress today sharpened its attack on the AAP government, seeking to puncture its developmental claims on education and health fronts.

Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken released a report card, titled - Two Years of Betrayal - "evaluating" the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation's work since it stormed to power in 2015.

Highlights of the report will be distributed across the city next month, he said, adding that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will address a rally in Ramlila Maidan against the Delhi government in March.

In the 42-page document, that largely focuses on education and health, Congress claims that contrary to the assertions of ruling AAP, number of students in government schools have come down since 2014.

"There were 17.75 lakh students in government schools in 2013-14. It came down to 17.04 lakh in 2014-15 and 16.77 lakh in 2015-16. Is this their revolution in education?" Maken asked.

He said the figures in the report are all taken from official sources such as the 'Baseline Data for Vision 2030' or Delhi Statistical Handbook. Maken alleged that the government deliberately removed the data from its website.

"Education is simply a publicity stunt for the AAP. Apart from reduction in students, the board exam results have been the worst in recent years," he said.
Queries to the department's advisers in this regard elicited to response.

Maken also claimed that the "much-vaunted" mohalla clinics project was a "dud" as it caters to only 0.8 per cent of the total Outpatient Department (OPD) share of the city's health care facilities.

"(Former UN Secretary General) Kofi Annan would not have praised the initiative had he been aware of the facts," Maken said, referring to praise of the Elders - an Annan-led global body - for the project.

The government has recently announced that 1,000 such clinics would come up in the city in the next four to five months. Around 107 clinics are operational at the moment.

"The AAP will have to face the India Shining impact," the Congress leader said referring to the BJP's 2004 poll slogan when it lost.