Good education can help alleviate poverty from society, says Delhi CM Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said good education for children can create an impact that can help alleviate poverty. Addressing a gathering at a function at the Civic Centre -- the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters -- here on the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, he said teachers, sanitation workers and other employees will "work magic" in the next couple of years to improve the system like their counterparts in the Delhi government have done in the past few years.

The AAP governs both the Delhi government and the MCD. In his address, he extolled Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, for laying out a vision for equality and egalitarianism in society and hailed his pursuit of higher education during the British era when not many Indians thought about getting degrees from institutions such as the Columbia University and the London School of Economics.

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Ambedkar knew the value of education and its role in lifting society from poverty and bringing equality among people, the chief minister said. He also placed a floral tribute at the statue of Ambedkar on the Civic Centre premises. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal paid homage to Ambedkar in a tweet. "Tribute to revered Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar ji on his anniversary. Let's come together to create an India where all children in the country will get a better education, the country will progress and become number one in the world," he tweeted in Hindi.

In his address at the MCD event, he also announced that the AAP-led dispensation plans to bring "healthy competition" to improve civic affairs in the city. "A 'model RWA award' has been proposed by Saurabh Bharadwaj so that one RWA (Residents' Welfare Association) can be picked as the best RWA every year.

Then we can have 'best park', 'best sanitation worker', 'best sanitary inspector', among other awards, in each ward so that people give their best," Kejriwal said. He cited the example of Delhi government schools and said when he was working with his NGO before joining politics, people used to "criticise Delhi government schools" and "look down upon its schoolteachers". "Then, after we came to power, we worked on our schools and created a positive environment for teachers and others. And those same teachers who earlier drew flak from the people have now brought a change in the education ethos at Delhi government schools," the chief minister claimed.

Children from poor economic backgrounds are now going to good institutions and bringing change in the lives of their families after getting jobs. He shared the example of a Delhi school student whose father is a plumber, and who secured admission to IIT-Roorkee in computer science. "Now, once he will graduate and get a job, he will change the life of his family... So, I don't say I will remove poverty, rather I will give you education with which you can alleviate poverty. We believe in the value and power of education," Kejriwal said.

Good education imparted to children can create an impact that can help alleviate poverty from society, he said. This was Kejriwal's first visit to the Civic Centre as chief minister of Delhi. The event was also attended by Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, Mayor Shelly Oberoi, Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, Municipal Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti and several councillors, among others. "We will improve MCD schools too and clean Delhi and make it shine.

These same teachers and sanitation workers of the MCD will work magic in a few years with a positive atmosphere around them, you will see," Kejriwal said. There are 250 wards in the MCD jurisdiction. It runs primary schools, various hospitals, polyclinics and dispensaries and is responsible for sanitation and other civic activities in the city. Set up in April 1958, the MCD was trifurcated into North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2012. The three civic bodies were reunified in 2022. In the first elections following the reunification in December 2022, the AAP emerged victorious to end the BJP's 15-year tenure in charge of the civic body. AAP councillor Shelly Oberoi has since been elected the Delhi mayor.