*The Delhi Model is world renowned for innovation in governance, thanks to the dedication and efforts of the 2 crore people of Delhi: Kejriwal

New Delhi: During the program organised at Delhi Secretariat on the occasion of 75th Independence Day, Chief Minister Shri  Arvind Kejriwal said that due to the hard work of two crore people of Delhi, Delhi has become a world-renowned centre of innovation in governance today. New experiments are being done continuously in Delhi. He further said that to make the children of Delhi realise their responsibility towards the country, on the birthday of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, on September 27, the Deshbhakti Curriculum will be taught in all Delhi Government schools. The CM hoped that soon a time will come when the Deshbhakti Curriculum will be taught in all the schools of the country. The CM further said that now the country needs 70 medals in the Olympics and to fulfill the objective, the Delhi Government has formed a sports university. Calling all the players of the country, the CM said that you can come to Delhi and the 2 crore people of Delhi will give the players all the facilities they need. To make yoga a mass movement, the Delhi Government is going to start yoga classes all over Delhi from October 2. On this occasion, the CM appealed to the people of Delhi to take a pledge to make Delhi the best city in the world in the coming times.

The 75th Independence Day was celebrated with great pomp at the Delhi Secretariat today. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the Chief Guest of the program organised in the Secretariat premises. During this, he ceremoniously greeted the people of Delhi and the entire country on the 75th Independence Day by hoisting the tricolor flag. On the occasion, all the cabinet ministers, MLAs and officials of the Delhi Government were present.

Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal conveyed his greetings on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day and said, “The entire country is drenched in patriotic fervour today. I pay my deepest regards on behalf of all the people of Delhi and the country to our revered freedom fighters who went through a hoard of predicaments and made sacrifices putting their lives at stake. It is because of the struggle and sufferings of these supreme beings that our nation could attain freedom. I also extended gratitude on behalf of Delhi and the entire country to all those bravehearts who have managed to keep our freedom intact for the past 74 years since 1947 and especially those who had to sacrifice their lives on our borders while protecting our freedom. For the last 1.5 years not just India but the entire world is suffering from a devastating pandemic, no one would have ever thought that humanity would have to endure such suffering ever in their lives. No one would have ever dreamt that a disease called Coronavirus would come and cause such destruction. To fight this pandemic a lot of our doctors, nurses and paramedics had to put their lives on stake to serve the people of this country. I bow down and pay heartfelt gratitude to all such great souls.”

“In the last 1.5 years the country witnessed two waves of COVID-19 but Delhi had to endure four waves of the pandemic. The first wave came in June last year, second in September last year, the third in November and now the fourth in April this year. The fourth wave was the most devastating of all, there may not be a single family left unscathed in this wave; and there countless such cases where despite doing everything that could have been done, lives could not be saved. So many families lost their breadwinners, so many children lost their parents. I remember in April, we were all suffering emotionally, all our ministers, all our MLAs and myself – we did not sleep for nights, we did our level best to save each life we could. We tried to plug every gap in the system we could, fix all the problems that were in our control. But at this point, I dedicate my biggest salute to the doctors, nurses and paramedics who relentlessly served without caring for themselves, their families; I know so many such people who did not go to meet their families for weeks to protect them from COVID and stayed in hospitals throughout. A lot of such people got infected with COVID during such times and were martyred on duty. The entire humanity wants to thank all these people today,” he added.

“The Delhi Government did not consider their duty to be any way less than that of a soldier. The Delhi Government maintains a policy of providing a Samman Rashi of Rs. 1 crore in case a soldier martyrs on duty; we extended the same policy to doctors and frontline workers and are providing a Samman Rashi of Rs. 1 crore to all such doctors, nurses, paramedics and frontline workers who martyred on duty. We can not quantify their sacrifice, but in today’s day and age where can we find such people who are ready to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of others. But through this Samman Rashi we want to tell their families that we are grateful to them, we stand with them and the entire country respects them,” the CM said.

He further stated that the Delhi Government stands with all the people who lost a family member to COVID. “The children who lost their parents are our children now, they belong to Delhi and the country, we will not leave them helpless. We are extending support to them for their education and upbringing. We are supporting all such families who lost their breadwinners to COVID,” he said.

Shri Kejriwal also announced the launch of the Deshbhakti Curriculum and said, “We are entering the 75th year of independence, I want to share some good news with everyone. In the last 74 years, our kids were taught everything from Physics, Chemistry, Maths to History and Geography in schools but no one ever taught them Deshbhakti. It was a shortcoming that we assumed that they’ll learn Deshbhakti on their own. I am delighted that on the occasion of the 75th year of independence, the Delhi Government is rolling out the Deshbhakti Curriculum that will be taught in schools. This curriculum will motivate our children to take pride in the country. This won’t have any rote learning involved, this will be activity based through which emotions will be developed among the children. They will be told the history of this country and its bravehearts and made to realise their duty towards this country. This curriculum will train children to contribute to the development of the nation and also make sacrifices for the country in times of need. The Deshbhakti Curriculum will be launched in schools on 27 September on the birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. This will be a tribute to Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh’s sacrifice that he made at such a young age. I further urge the parents of the children to talk to their children about the nation, share their experiences, and discuss what is being taught in Deshbhakti Curriculum, this will make both the parent and the child feel patriotic.”

On the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence I appeal to everyone to come together and celebrate patriotism and freedom. I hope that the Deshbhakti Curriculum developed by the Delhi Government will soon be taught across each school in this country. Our children are the future of this country, they are the ones who will be running the country and be its stakeholders. If we are able to guide them to the right path today, we will be able to ensure a bright future for our country,” he added.

*People of Delhi have helped us bring a revolution in education: CM Arvind Kejriwal*

“6-7 years ago, 2 crore people of Delhi started the Shiksha Kranti of Delhi to bring about a revolution in the education system.  We have two kinds of education systems in our country, one for the rich – private schools, and the other for the poor – government schools. If anyone has money, means and resources with them, they send their children to the private schools. If they are poor and underprivileged, they send their children to the government schools. They would only send their children to government schools if they had no other option because the state of these schools was horrible back then. In the last 6-7 years the people of Delhi brought about such a revolution in education that people started taking out their children from private schools to put them in government schools. It is because of the people’s trust and devotion that Delhi Government’s schools could achieve a 99.97% pass rate in 12th. Not even private schools could do it,” he said.

*Guidance of IB with whom even the best of the students of the country long to be guided by, will be available to the underprivileged students of Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal*

The CM also announced the collaboration of Delhi Board of School Education with the IB, and said, “Another huge achievement happened recently. We had formed the Delhi Board of School Education, every state has their own board, the centre has the central board. There’s one more board, the international board called the International Baccalaureate. The biggest schools of the world and the country where the richest of rich kids go to study dream of getting an affiliation of the IB, as their pedagogy is of the highest international standards. The IB is working with schools of 159 countries like France, Japan, America and Canada. I am delighted to inform that the Delhi Board of School Education has signed an Agreement of Collaboration with the International Baccalaureate. Now the schools of the Delhi Government guidance of IB with whom even the best of the students of the country long to be guided by, affiliated to and associated with, will be available to the underprivileged students of Delhi”

The Chief Minister also elucidated upon the Faceless Services of the Transport Department, and said, “Because of the dedication of the people, Delhi has become a laboratory of finding new ways of governance. Last week, we locked up RTO offices and digitised all their work. Locking up offices does not mean we are reducing our level of governance, it means that the people don’t need to visit the offices to get their work done, the office will come to them, on their computer screens. There used to be a time when one had to get their licence made from the Transport Department, intense discussions would start in the household as to who to approach to put in a reference or which agent to hire, when to take a holiday. People would go, stand in lines every time and then someone would keep making objections in their application again and again. Eventually you’d get tired and get an agent to do it. You don’t need to do all this now, just open the website and your work will be completed in about an hour. If you don’t know how to use the internet then you can call 1076 and someone will come to your home and do it for you.”

“No one thought governance could be transformed in this manner. We have started with the transport department, soon all departments will function like this. You won’t need to come to the office at all. Delhi has given a model to the country, I hope this model of governance can be implemented all over the country and revolutionise governance. In 2018, a very large scale reform was implemented: doorstep delivery of services. Just like how you order a pizza, you had to just call 1076 and a representative would come to you to pick up all your documents, fill your form and get your fees paid. The representative would complete all the formalities, get the licence made, and deliver it to you. That was a revolutionary step in itself that over 150 services of the Delhi Government have been enabled for doorstep delivery,” he said.

“In Delhi, our education system doesn’t only value good results, we also care for the well being of our students. We started Happiness Classes. Everyday children in our schools meditate for 45 minutes, discuss patriotic subjects, talk about positivity, they are made to participate in developmental activities. These happiness classes are bearing such sweet fruit for us that their parents come to us to tell us how good the classes are. These classes are being talked about across the entire world! When the American President came to India, his wife went to attend the Happiness Classes of Delhi Government schools. We are conducting entrepreneurship classes to teach young students how to run businesses. They are being taught to turn a profit out of amounts as small as 500 rupees. The children are learning so much about business and team building, it is amazing. I can assure you that Tata-Birlas of the future are being developed in entrepreneurship classes of Delhi Government Schools,” the CM said.

“We started Mohalla Clinics, now states like Telangana and Gujarat are picking the concept up. It brings us immense happiness when we see our work be recognised in this fashion. We developed a concept that if someone is born in this country then it is imperative from that person to be given basic services. What if the person has no money, does it take away their right to eat food, get shelter, use electricity? These are basic necessities that must be provided to every individual. We decided that 20,000 litres of water, 200 units of electricity, quality education, and quality healthcare are all basic necessities for one and are giving them for free. I recently got to know that the Goan Government after seeing our work has announced 16,000 litres of free water for each family and even some governments are holding discussions to provide 200 units of free electricity. Today, Delhi is getting 24×7 electricity supply and people of other states are now asking why aren’t they getting so. I hope that soon even the poorest of the poor can get 24×7 uninterrupted power supply in this country,” he said.

“The Delhi Government has been able to save over 10,000 lives of those people who were injured in accidents through its policy of bearing the cost of treatment of such patients no matter how expensive the hospital or the treatment is. I hope such a policy is implemented on a national scale so that accident victims can be saved at the right time,” he added.

“During the pandemic, the doctors of Delhi were the first ones to develop plasma therapy as a treatment, America then followed in our footsteps. Delhi was the first place to implement home isolation provisions for mild-infected COVID patients so that hospital beds could be given to those most in need; and we all know family members provide the best care possible to the patient,” he further said.”

The CM further talked about the government’s vision of the Delhi Sports University, and said, “Delhi is becoming a hub for innovation in governance. We will bring up more such innovations to provide better governance. This year, India won 7 medals in the Olympics. I congratulate and thank all the medal winners on behalf of the 2 crore people of Delhi for making the country proud at the highest level. Now, we have to start preparations for winning 70 medals. If China, America, France can bring in so many medals, why can India not? It is not like there is not enough talent in our population of 130 crore people. We just need to identify and develop talent properly. In this prospect, the Delhi Government is establishing the Delhi Sports University. This Sports University will serve the entire country and help bring more medals through this university at the highest levels. I wish to tell all our athletes, not just in Delhi but across India that this Sports University will serve you, you can come here, we will give you every facility you need. We will all work together to bring 70 medals.”

“Every state has their Sainik Schools, Delhi doesn’t. We are now preparing to open the first Sainik School in the state and a Delhi Armed Forces Preparatory Academy to help prepare bravehearts for the country. In the academy, alongside education the children will be prepared for appearing in army entrances. India gave the world Yoga, it is something that enriches the mind, body and soul. But in our country its popularity is seeing a decline. We just celebrate the International Yoga Day and then forget about it. To make Yoga a part of every person’s life, starting 2nd October this year the Delhi Government will start Yoga classes in parks, public spaces and community centres. We are preparing an army of Yoga instructors for the cause. If a group of residents say we need an instructor, the Delhi Government will provide it for free,” he added.

“As we celebrate the 75th Independence Day, we should also prepare for the Delhi we want to see on the 100th Independence Day. In March, when we presented our budget, we made two promises. First, we will make the per capita income of Delhi equal to Singapore and every person, rich or poor, has a high standard of living; this can’t be achieved alone, we all will have to work together towards it. Second, we will make Delhi modern with world-class infrastructure and public services. Delhi shall bid for hosting the 2048 Olympic games. India has never hosted the Olympics, but I reckon that we will be able to develop the city in a manner that we will be a strong contender for hosting the Olympics. With this resolve, I seek a pledge from all the people of Delhi that together we will make Delhi the most livable city all over and from all the people of the country that we will make India the number one country in the world,” the CM concluded whilst chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai reverberated the premises.