The Congress on Sunday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) education model, alleging the tall claims made by the government were an eyewash and that number of Class 12 graduates declined under the current regime, when compared to Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as Delhi chief minister.
Congress treasurer Ajay Maken, addressing a press conference, also hit out at the AAP over rising pollution levels, citing a decline in the bus fleet and increase in private vehicles as the key drivers behind it.
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Citing government data showing 147,420 Class 12 graduates in 2013-14, Maken said: “They speak very highly of their education model, but the data points otherwise. It was 123,522 students in 2014-15 and by 2019-2020, had dropped to 109,098. Post-Covid, it has increased again, only because more students shifted from private to government schools as they could not afford the high fees. Even then, in 2023-24, the figure was 146,885.”
The AAP accused the Congress of following the BJP’s line and alleged that both the parties were colluding to beat the AAP.
{{/usCountry}}The AAP accused the Congress of following the BJP’s line and alleged that both the parties were colluding to beat the AAP.
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Attacking AAP on failing to rid the city rid of air pollution, Maken, sharing a report by a non-profit body, said: “The report by PRS Legislative research referred to two studies from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) — one a 2018 study, which showed that in 2016, the contribution of the transport sector to Delhi’s PM2.5 was between 17 and 28%. They then referred to a 2021 draft report by TERI which never saw the light of the day as it was never published by the Delhi government. This draft report said 1,800 new vehicles were being added to Delhi’s roads every day and that the annual contribution from vehicles to Delhi’s PM2.5 was 47%. So one can see how much the contribution of the transport sector has gone up in a short period.”
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Maken said that according to DTC’s operational statistics book of September 2024, buses were ferrying 4.67 million passengers per day in 2012-13, which currently stands at 2.44 million. Further, he said that 64.15% of the current fleet was overage and is at risk of catching fire.
“It is unfortunate that the Congress is parroting the same fabricated narratives scripted in the BJP’s headquarters. In Delhi, BJP and Congress are... having a moment, but the people of Delhi see through their game. Congress is fighting for its existence, while Arvind Kejriwal is fighting to save the country,” the AAP said in a statement.