Facing obstacles due to incomplete implementation of constitution in Delhi: Kejriwal

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said his government was working as per principles enshrined in the Constitution despite facing obstacles due to its incomplete implementation in Delhi.

In a veiled reference to the power tussle between the central and Delhi governments, Kejriwal said his government had to face a lot of obstructions because they were not able to implement the Constitution in its entirety in Delhi.

“If the Constitution is implemented properly even for a single day, the nation will achieve excellence in all spheres,” he said at an event held to mark the culmination of the Constitution at 70 campaign running in Delhi government schools. The event held at Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium was attended by around 10,000 students.

In August, the Delhi government launched the campaign for students of classes 6-11 in its schools. The objective of the three-month campaign was to inculcate values of liberty, equality and fraternity among its students.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, “In this campaign, 10 lakh students and thousands of teachers extensively reflected upon the vision behind the principles – liberty, equality and fraternity, beautifully articulated in the preamble of our Constitution along with their violations and shortcomings in our times. They explored ways to meaningfully live these principles further, as envisioned by the founding fathers of our constitution.”

Following performances by school children on biases around caste, gender and disability and a question-answer session on constitutional values, Kejriwal said his government worked towards ensuring equality among people.

“The constitution has been the driving force for us and the results are visible. The constitution mentions the Right to Equality and we tried to achieve that by providing quality education to both privileged and underprivileged students. Even electricity and water, the basic necessities for survival, were made available to all,” he said.

“Reading the Constitution always makes me realise that if our Constitution is honestly implemented even for a single day, nobody can stop India from acquiring the first position among all nations of the world,” Kejriwal said.