Delhi polls: AAP launches five-point programme for youth, promises eight lakh jobs

New Delhi: Kickstarting its interactive sessions to connect with the masses and woo voters ahead of Delhi assembly polls, the AAP today launched a five-point programme for youth, guaranteeing higher education by setting up 20 new colleges and having wi-fi connectivity across Delhi. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal wooed the national capital’s youth by promising 800,000 jobs. Delhi is headed for elections after the assembly was dissolved earlier this month. The polls are likely to be held early next year. The party formally launched the Delhi Dialogue, an interactive initiative to connect with voters of different stratas of society, and spelled out its strategy for youth.[caption id=“attachment_1804739” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] The party will come up with a 50-point programme catering to different sections of the society. Highlighting the issue of admission, faced by students especially after class XII, Kejriwal said the main cause of the the problem was lack of infrastructure in the education sector. “No new college has been built since last 15-20 years, which is leading to this problem. Giving education to the these students will be government’s responsibility. We will double the number of existing seats and construct 20 new colleges for the youth. “Many villages have also complained about lack of educational institutions. The government will built colleges in these villages to ensure that the students there get admission,” Kejriwal said at the function held at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. He said that the government will also ensure that students get loan for pursuing their education. “The government will also be a guarantor to these students so that they don’t have to mortage their property and valuables to get education,” he said. The AAP chief also tried to woo the youth by making Delhi a wi-fi city. “We are working on the details to have wi-fi across Delhi,” he said. The former chief minister said, if his party came to power, it will fill some 50,000 vacancies of doctors, teachers, nurses and other professionals in the Delhi government. “The colleges the government would build will be designed in a way that students wont have to look for jobs. It will have incubation centres. After passing out, the student can be given a facility to carry out his venture and we will also help to get loan through banks,” he said. Kerjriwal said his government will not “snatch” the employment of youth, but work towards it. He said lack of infrastructure and wrong policies were leading to business moving out of the National Capital. “Few years back, Delhi had some 29 industrial areas, but today it has come down to 7-8 because of lack of power, road and water. We will ensure that these industrial areas have upgraded infrastructure so that industries can again come back. We will also reduce VAT,” he said. Kejriwal said his government will focus on skill development of youth and train them in new areas. Emphasising the role of sports, he said the government will not only create and upgrade the sports infrastructure, but also adopt the best talents and promote them. He said the government was ready to develop sports infrastructure in far-flung villages of Delhi if they offered land. “There are some 1800 MCD, 1200 Delhi and some 1000 private schools which have grounds, but are closed after working hours. We will open all of them. “The government will adopt sports talent and promote them so that they can compete at the national and international level. We will also get rid of politicians and bureaucrats from all the sports bodies, which will be managed by sports experts,” he said. Expressing concern about the growing drug menace in the country, Kejriwal said his party will ensure that the national capital does not become a second Punjab. “The party has decided to provide mobile governance to people following which Delhiites can connect to government through their smartphones. People can also see government’s works and even discuss their problems with government on their phones due to which city can be made a corruption-free,” AAP leader Ashish Khetan, who is heading the Delhi Dialogue team, said. Khetan also said that there are several heritage sites in the national capital, but tourists, including foreign tourists, go to other countries. “We have also plans to make Delhi a tourist hub after coming to power,” he said. Another senior party leader Yogendra Yadav also said, “AAP has initiated new rules of politics in Delhi. We have sought suggestions of people to make blueprint of our election manifesto.I would also like to know from BJP and Congress to adopt such pattern and compared their manifestos to ours which one is good.” Yadav also said that party will focus on different issues like women security, employment, education, health and among others. Party also claimed that it will make the city a educational model after winning the forthcoming Assembly elections. The next round of Delhi dialogue would be on 26 November, the foundation day of the party. On that day, the party will spell out its agenda on women’s security. PTI & IANS