AAP MLA Atishi presents 'Delhi model' at UNGA; Kejriwal hails 'moment of pride for India'

In a big development, AAP legislator Atishi presented party supremo Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi model of governance at the UN General Assembly on Thursday. She was invited to speak on the 'Best practices of leading locally' alongside the Mayors of Bogota and Barcelona. At the outset, she argued that the government ceding space to the private sector in areas such as education, healthcare, water and electricity had resulted in improved fiscal management but at the cost of increasing inequality. According to her, Delhi had managed to provide high-quality services to its citizens and yet run a fiscally responsible government.

Highlighting the situation in the national capital before AAP came to power with a full majority, Atishi said, "In 2015, a new party that was formed out of a nationwide anti-corruption movement came into power in Delhi led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. We faced many challenges. Delhi had one of the highest electricity tariffs in the country. The financial health of power distribution companies was poor, power cuts were frequent, the government water utility was facing losses, government schools and hospitals were failing and families were shifting to private providers for the same."

Elaborating on the Kejriwal model, she said, "However, in the last 7 years, the Delhi government turned all this around. We now have 24/7 electricity, some of the lowest electricity tariffs in the country. 4 million households get a zero electricity bill. The financial health of power distribution companies has improved. More than 1500 residential areas in the city have got piped power supply for the first time. The water utility is no longer in the red. Government schools have been performing better than private schools for the last 5 years. Just last year, 2,00,000 students shifted from private schools to government schools in Delhi."

"Mohalla clinics are providing free healthcare to citizens at a lost cost to the government. And all this has been achieved with an increase in revenue in budget sizes. The total budget of the government of Delhi has increased from 300 billion rupees in 2015 to 750 billion in 2022. The per capita income of Delhi is now three times higher than the rest of the country. And the state GDP has increased 150% in the last decade. Delhi is now the only state government in all of India that does not have a fiscal deficit," the AAP MLA elaborated.

Watch AAP MLA Atishi's speech at the UNGA here: 

Reacting to this, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal described this as a "moment of pride" for India. He opined on Twitter, "Delhi and AAP make Indians proud. The world is now looking up to Delhi for solutions in many areas of urban governance. We all will learn from each other to make world a better place".