Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced that the fees of 3.14 Lakh for CBSE candidates appearing for 10th and 12th standard examinations will be paid by the Delhi Government. 

The announcement comes after the Government declared various ‘freebies’ for Delhi.

Delhi Government provides free coaching 

In 2018, the Delhi Government had launched a free coaching scheme for underprivileged students. According to the city government’s claim, 35 students who availed the benefit under the scheme have cracked the prestigious NEET and JEE exams in 2019. Following this, the government then expanded its ambit to cover students belonging to OBC, ST and EWS quotas as well. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government also increased the financial assistance under the scheme to ₹1 lakh from ₹40,000 in 2019.

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Delhi reduces water and electricity arrears

In the wake of 2019 Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Admi Party had decided to waive water arrears of those who have functional water meters at their homes. The CM had also urged Delhi residents to install water metres in houses to avail the scheme. Earlier this month, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that people living in the capital do not have to pay any amount of their electricity bills if their power consumption does not exceed 200 units. The Delhi Government also set aside Rs 290 crore for providing free travel to women in its buses and metros.

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Opposition parties on AAP 

However, opposition parties claim that such moves are just political gimmicks. Following Delhi Government’s scheme for providing free electricity, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said that “The declaration by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for making electric consumption up to 200 units free misleading and an election stunt. 

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Kejriwal says Delhi not affected by the economic slowdown

At an event on Sunday, the Chief Minister claimed that Delhi has not felt even a ‘pinch’ of the economic slowdown because of the AAP government's schemes."I am from a traders' family myself and I understand the agony, pains and problems faced by traders very well. In this period of economic slowdown, the people of Delhi are not feeling the pinch as much because of the Delhi government's schemes," Kejriwal said.

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