New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written an article exclusively for English daily, the Times of India. In the article, Kejriwal, also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, talks about the success of the Odd-Even scheme in Delhi, Delhiites' overwhelming response to the formula, the AAP government's ability to govern, and much more.
Here are some highlights from the article:
- Kejriwal says Indians normally curse themselves and admire people of other countries like Singapore, Britain, Japan and the US for their discipline. However, Kejriwal adds, he always had faith in the country's people. Indians do well in almost all fields when they are in other countries. Indians are first-class people with third-class governance. They have the capacity to do wonders when provided with proper systems and a sincere leadership.
- The Delhi CM says his government relied on the faith in the capital's citizens for the success of the Odd-Even scheme.
- Kejriwal writes he was nervous as a school child a day before the Odd-Even scheme was to be implemented. “On New Year's Eve, I was quite nervous. It was the nervousness of that boy who has an exam next day, who has revised the syllabus twice but is still nervous,” he says in the article.
- For the AAP chief, success of the scheme was overwhelming. The success “showed people's power”.
- Kejriwal says the people of Delhi followed the Odd-Even scheme not just for the fear of Rs 2000 fine but because they wanted to. “The same set of people who were condemned by everyone earlier as indisciplined were leaving their cars behind and either car-pooling or using public transport,”he writes.
- The Delhi CM says the Odd-Even scheme's success shows the AAP can execute toughest of schemes and that it can govern.
- The Odd-Even scheme has not just brought down pollution in Delhi but also decongested city's roads. “The significant reduction in traffic congestion all over Delhi has caught everyone's imagination. Traffic jams are rare. Travel time across Delhi has got significantly reduced,” the CM writes in the article.
- The Delhi CM says the scheme will stop on January 15 as decided earlier. However, the government will take stock and analyse the experience of the 15 days. “We could (then) implement it later in a better form,” he adds.
