Having made a certain progress in the field of education, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has now laid emphases also on drinking water and health sectors.

Kejriwal has perhaps realised that confrontation with the BJP-led government at the Centre and particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi was counter-productive. Therefore, he seems to have turned his attention towards governance issues in the national capital.

This strategy appears to have paid off. AAP won the Bawana Assembly by-elections held last month by an impressive margin.

Otherwise, till Kejriwal was on a collision course with the centre and PM Modi, AAP had hardly met with electoral success, be it the Punjab and Goa Assembly elections, MCD polls or the Rajouri Garden state bypoll.

The Delhi chief minister perhaps has taken a cue from BJP's historic victory in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections held earlier this year. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016 in Ballia, was a runaway success.

By giving free LPG connections to targeted household, it helped improve the condition of women, particularly in the rural areas. It is considered to be one of the main reasons behind the BJP's win in the most populous state of the country.

For Kejriwal too, it is back to basics now. Besides education, the spotlight is now also on drinking water and health.

DRINKING WATER

During the 49-day AAP government in 2013-14, Kejriwal had kept five departments - power, finance, planning, vigilance and home - with him. However, in his second stint in 2015, he did not keep any department. In fact, he was the only chief minister without any portfolio.

In the first major decision after the electoral victory in Bawana bypoll, Kejriwal took charge of the water ministry. He also became the chairperson of Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

There appears to be two reasons behind Kejriwal taking charge of the water department - to ensure potable water to as many colonies as possible and to clean the mess in DJB.

In its manifesto for the Delhi Assembly election in 2015, the AAP promised to provide universal access to clean drinking water to all its citizens of Delhi at an affordable price. The manifesto said, "The DJB Act will be amended to make clean drinking water a right of people. Free Lifeline Water: AAP will ensure free lifeline water of up to 20 kiloliter to every household with DJB's metered water connection."

The AAP government has already been providing free water upto 20,000 litres per month to every household in Delhi. Kejriwal has taken a number of other decisions ever since he took over the charge in order to streamline water supply and availability. For instance, he has ordered the filling up of all vacant posts.

The Delhi CM has also directed DJB to prepare a specific deadline when it would be able to map colonies without tap water and a deadline for laying the pipelines, map areas vulnerable to leakage to be done immediately and procure sewer cleaning machines.

Kejriwal gave these directions after seeking several reports, for example, on the current status of water supply in all the colonies of Delhi, the timing of water supply in every colony, the duration of the supply and problems faced, including water contamination.

The second objective seems to be to salvage the image of DJB which has been severely maligned in the past few years due to the water tanker scam. Both Kejriwal and his predecessor Sheila Dikshit are accused in the Rs 400-crore scam.

The alleged scam involves irregularities in granting water tanker contracts by DJB for supply of water in areas which did not have access to piped network. A fact-finding team constituted by the then Delhi water resources minister Kapil Mishra confirmed that the scam took place in 2012.

The committee recommended investigation by the CBI or Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into the scam. It also wanted an FIR to be registered against Sheila Dikshit.

However, when the Delhi government did not act upon the recommendations, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta forwarded the report to the then Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) forwarded the complaint who, in turn, sent it to the ACB.

The ACB registered a complaint against both Dikshit and Kejriwal.

Kejriwal, who also is the convenor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), took action against Kapil Mishra by first sacking him as a minister and then suspending him from the party.

With his name involved prominently in the scam, Kejriwal appears to have taken up cudgels to defend himself and clear his name from the scam.

MOHALLA CLINICS

The Kejriwal government has set out a target of putting in place a network of neighbourhood health facility scheme. Through 1,000 low cost mohalla clinics, the government plans to offer sound health facilities to the people of the national capital.

Apart from routine out-patient clinic, these neighbourhood clinics provide immunisation to children, DOTS centre for TB treatment and counselling for male sterilisation.

At present, 162 mohalla clinics are operational. The government plans to expand the services by augmenting the number of mohalla clinics to 450, with 250 to function from government schools.

L-G Anil Baijal approved the mohalla clinics project on September 4. The Kejriwal government's major priority now is to have 450 mohalla clinics commissioned. The administration has to identify land for the project.

World leaders like former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and former WHO director general Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland have already praised the ambitious project. They want that the project be taken up on a larger scale and its management be streamlined.

EDUCATION

The Delhi government has already won accolades for its initiatives in the field of education. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia has not allowed the private schools to increase the fees. Besies, he has focused on improving the standard of education in the government schools.

The government has spent one fourth of its budget in education after coming to power. Its unprecedented mega Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) was an instant hit among students and their guardians.

The Delhi government school teachers are being sent to Singapore's National Institute of Education for training. The first batch of 25 teachers visited the country last month. A total of 200 teachers would be sent for training.

The Kejriwal government has also ensured that the electricity tariff is not increased. Now with focus on drinking water and health, the AAP government is likely to give the rivals BJP and Congress a run for their money in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.

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