Aam Aadmi Party MLAs along with several slum dwellers on Saturday protested outside the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ramesh Bidhuri against eviction notices sent to residents in slum clusters of Kalkaji, Badarpur, Mehrauli and Tughlakabad.
AAP national spokesperson Atishi said the BJP-led Centre had promised homes to people in slums under the ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahi Makaan’ scheme before the municipal elections.
“But as soon as the elections were over, the true anti-poor stance of the BJP was exposed, as it issued notices to demolish slums and evict people,” she said, adding that the paty should be ashamed of its actions.
AAP has claimed that the notices were issued this month by the Archaeological Survey of India to slum dwellers in the Tughlakabad Fort area.
Ms. Atishi also claimed that the central government has turned the entire area into a cantonment and deployed paramilitary forces.
“One can only imagine the difficulties faced by the residents in coming out for the protest today. I want to express my admiration for the bravery of all those who, despite the intimidation and heavy presence of police and forces, dared to protest.”
She assured the protesters that “as long as Arvind Kejriwal and AAP have a presence in Delhi, they will continue to stand by the poor and marginalised communities”.
‘Improve quality of education’
Meanwhile, referring to the Finland teachers’ training programme issue, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said the AAP government was indulging in politics over the subject of education, instead of improving its quality.
“[The] Kejriwal government will have to understand that improvement in education will not happen by sending teachers to Finland for training, but by appointing adequate number of teachers and headmasters in all schools of Delhi. Happiness class is necessary, but it is necessary to have classes of all subjects in schools. Today, Science and Commerce are not being taught in 90% of the city’s government senior secondary schools,” he added.
