Improving cleanliness, health care and the financial condition of the civic bodies have been given focus in the Congress’ manifestos for the by-polls to 13 municipal wards.
The party on Monday released 13 separate manifestos for the wards — a first for it in the municipal elections. The Aam Aadmi Party was the first to come up with individual manifestos for each Assembly constituency after consulting residents. Taking a cue, the Congress manifestos are split into two sections — one for city-wide issues and another for problems specific to the ward. These were drafted after taking feedback from voters.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken said that one round of door-to-door interaction with voters had been done in the past two weeks to identify the local problems.
“We came up with 11 issues that affect all the wards after talking to residents. We have also identified problems in each ward,” said Mr. Maken.
Sanitation, or the lack thereof, seemed to be the biggest concern in all the 13 wards, with the Congress saying it would address it “on a high priority basis”. Among the Congress’ promises is the demand for more sanitation workers.
According to the existing yardstick, municipal corporations deploy one sweeper or safai karamchari for each 60,000 square feet of area. The New Delhi Municipal Council, however, has one safai karamchari for every 30,000 square feet.
Arguing that the density of population is more in the areas of the municipal corporations, Mr. Maken said the Congress would fight to change this. With primary healthcare and education being the responsibility of the municipal corporations, the Congress manifestos lay emphasis on strengthening basic infrastructure, including dispensaries and schools. “During the rule of the Congress, the Delhi government set up 543 dispensaries. The corporations also have 296 of their own. Instead of opening mohalla clinics, we want that the existing infrastructure is strengthened and used properly,” said Mr. Maken.
