AAP indulging in false propaganda on free water scheme : Congress

The Congress said the free scheme, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) pre-poll plank, benefited not more than 8% households.

The Delhi Congress on Wednesday said the Arvind Kejriwal government’s claim that more than 87% of Delhi’s population benefited from the free water scheme was false propaganda, a charge rebutted by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The Congress said the free scheme, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) pre-poll plank, benefited not more than 8% households. (Hindustan Times)

The Congress said the free scheme, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) pre-poll plank, benefited not more than 8% households.

Delhi Congress Pradesh Committee president Ajay Maken, quoting from what he called the outcome budget of the DJB, told reporters that only 4.28 lakh households, which is less than 8% of the total number of households in Delhi (nearly 46 lakh), were beneficiaries of the policy.

Under the scheme, each household is entitled to 20,000 litres of water free of charge every month.

“According to the outcome budget of the Delhi Jal Board, just 8% of the households of Delhi are benefiting from the scheme. The government is misleading the people by claiming that 87% people get free water,” Maken said.

Maken said the AAP had gone back on its poll promise and asked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to apologise to the people of Delhi.

DJB vice-chairman Dinesh Mohania, who described the tariff hike as normal, said it was necessary to implement the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendation for the board’s employees.

“The scheme benefits lakhs of people living across Delhi’s unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters, which cover majority of the population. I am yet to look at the claim and will need to discuss it with the member, finance. But I am sure it can’t be just 8%,” he said.

On Tuesday, the DJB hiked water tariff by 20% for residents using more than 20,000 litres a month. The hike will come into effect from February 1 next year.

“They (AAP) want to send out a message that they are giving free water to majority of the people of Delhi. Actually, the revised tariff affects a huge population of Delhi,” Maken said.

Rebutting the claims, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said Maken’s claims hold no water. “It is not possible that only 8% people are benefited by the policy,” he said.