Arvind Kejriwal asks Manish Sisodia to give 80 per cent reservation to Delhi students in government-aided colleges

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday asked Education Minister Manish Sisodia to explore the possibility of giving 80 per cent reservation to students of the national capital in the Delhi government-aided colleges.

Kejriwal also asked him to see if 80-85 per cent of guest teachers could be inducted from the national capital through a drive being conducted to appoint 9,000 teachers. This move would help generate jobs for the people of Delhi.

Interacting with volunteers through Google Hangout, Kejriwal listed measures taken by his government, especially in the health and education sectors and urged them to popularise the AAP dispensation's schemes.

He said the AAP government want to achieve 100 per cent literacy in the national capital.

The chief minister said he had been receiving complaints from students belonging to Delhi about not getting admission in the city-based colleges.

"Delhi is the capital of the nation. It belongs to everyone and all are welcome here. But the colleges being run with the money of Delhi's taxpayers should have some reservation and students of Delhi should be given priority.

"I request Manish ji (Sisodia) to explore the possibility of giving reservation in 28 colleges which get aid from the Delhi government," he said.

The AAP had proposed a similar move in the past. With high cut-offs for admission to several colleges in Delhi, many students in the national capital complain of not getting seats.

Also, the Delhi students have to compete with those who complete their Class XII from outside the national capital.

At present, Delhi Technological University and the Indraprastha University give reservation to students domiciled in Delhi.

Kejriwal said the ambit of the Delhi government's education scheme to stand as a guarantor for students seeking education loan up to Rs 10 lakh has been expanded.

"This scheme was applicable to students pursuing courses in colleges in Delhi. Now, they can take benefit of the scheme to study anywhere in the world," he said.

He, however, rued that the government's flagship scheme for providing free treatment in private hospitals was not being implemented properly.

"When I visited the hospitals, I realised that not all know about the scheme. I have told the medical superintendents to popularise this scheme," he said.

Kejriwal also demanded that the Centre waive farm loans and implement the Swaminathan Commission report. If the Centre can waive loans of industrialists, then it can also write off the debt of farmers.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal visited his constituency of New Delhi and interacted with people.