Delhi: A dubious record of governance

In 2012–13, the advertising budget of the Delhi government, under the Congress’s Sheila Dikshit, was Rs 11.18 crore. In FY 2022–23, under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, that budget has jumped to Rs 557 crore, while its annual budget has risen from Rs 37,000 crore to Rs 77,000 crore over the same period. In other words, where the annual budget has just about doubled, the advertising budget has risen 50 times! If you go by Delhi’s lieutenant-governor V.K. Saxena, the ad budget has crossed Rs 600 crore.

Other than AAP, which is seeking re-election for a fourth time, and wants to build a grand narrative of accomplishment, the real beneficiaries of this extravagant publicity are advertising and outdoor agencies, event managers, content creators — and, not to forget, the media. Which explains why hard questions are rarely put to AAP leaders, why claims are hyped and rhetoric takes precedence over reality. More importantly, the people who really pay for all this are the people who vote — and so, a reality check is in order.

The Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power on the promise of ending corruption, installing a Lokpal and transforming education, healthcare, transport and the environment. Over a decade later, the party no longer speaks about the Lokpal because nobody was ever appointed and corruption, by all accounts, has increased. As the party seeks re-election, it claims, as its crowning achievements, a ‘revolution’ in education and primary healthcare. AAP’s advertising blitz portrays Delhi government schools as having transformed into ‘world class institutions'.

AAP leaders assert that these schools are now so good that parents are queuing up to shift their children from private schools. To be fair, the party did increase the education budget — from Rs 5,491 crore in 2012–13 to Rs 13,995 crore in 2018–19.

A clutch of schools with smart classrooms and upgraded facilities, particularly in south Delhi, have been splashed in ads and shown off to diplomats and visiting delegations. But it now appears that these showcases are exceptions, not the rule.

The promise to start 500 new government schools and to privilege the not-so-well-off families in the appointment of teachers, non-teaching staff and admission of students has been sadly belied. An RTI response in 2022 revealed that only 63 government schools were opened between February 2015 and May 2022.

A subsequent RTI application, filed by Newslaundry in October 2024, indicated that the real figure was 39. To paper over the failure, AAP claimed to have constructed 23,000 new classrooms. Whereas a petition in the Delhi High Court highlighted poor infrastructure in 18 government schools in north-east Delhi, where overcrowded classrooms and insufficient desks had forced students to sit on the floor and spill out into the corridors.

A 2020 Central Vigilance Commission report cast further doubts on the government’s claims. While payments were made for 7,137 classrooms against the stated target of building 6,133 classrooms in 194 schools, only 4,027 classrooms were constructed in 141 schools. In some cases, toilets were reportedly counted as classrooms.

The Delhi government frequently cited impressive CBSE board examination results as evidence of the transformation. In 2024, 96.99 per cent of students from government schools reportedly passed the CBSE exams, surpassing the pass percentage of several private schools. A closer examination reveals a different story. The tactics employed by private schools are now being copied by Delhi’s government schools. Research indicates that more than 50 per cent of Class 9 and 11 students either fail or are deliberately held back.

This strategy ensures that only students with higher chances of success proceed to Class 10 and 12, inflating the overall pass percentages. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) Report of 2021 reveals:

• Language skills of Class 3 students stood at 52 points, compared to the national average of 62.

• Proficiency in maths and environmental studies was recorded at 47 and 48 points, respectively, below the national average of 57.

During the Covid pandemic, a significant number of students from private schools in Delhi did shift to government schools. But this was mainly because economic hardships, caused by job losses and closure of businesses during the lockdown, forced many families to seek more affordable education for their children. After the lockdown, this trend did not sustain.

The number of students in government schools has not kept pace with Delhi’s growing population, and in some areas, enrolment has declined. Dropout rates remain alarmingly high, with over 2.5 lakh students in Class 9 failing to reach Class 12.

AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, reiterated this month that six new universities have been set up by the AAP government. In fact, only three have been set up in the last decade — the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (2020), which focuses on vocational education; the Delhi Sports University, announced in 2020, with Rs 1 crore spent on promotions prior to launch (it is currently operating from a temporary campus, with the promised 80-acre Mundka campus still under construction); and the Delhi Teachers University (2022), which offers six courses. None of these so-called ‘universities’ is multidisciplinary.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s other big claim is that its Mohalla Clinics have transformed affordable primary healthcare in the city.

The clinics did initially draw a lot of favourable attention, but a decade after the party first came to power on its own, Mohalla Clinics have made news for very unflattering reasons. One of the major issues involves fraudulent patient registrations. Investigations have revealed shocking anomalies, including the following:

• Over 3,000 patient records registered with the same phone number: 9999999999.

• 999 patients linked to just 15 mobile numbers.

• 11,657 entries with the phone number listed ‘0’.

• 8,000 instances of phone number fields left blank.

Funds allocated for these ‘ghost’ patients have clearly lined someone’s pockets. There are also allegations of substandard medicines and pathology tests being conducted for nonexistent patients. Citing RTI data, an Indian Express report (13 January 2025) revealed a 28 per cent decline in patient footfalls after a surge during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As for AAP’s promise of building 10 new hospitals in Delhi, only three have been inaugurated over the past 10 years — Ambedkar Nagar Hospital, Burari Hospital and Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka. Even these are ‘ailing’ from inadequate staffing and insufficient infrastructure.

AAP had pledged to operate 11,000 buses. As of now, only 7,700 public buses are in service, many of them CNG models long past their expiry date. Although the government has favoured the introduction of electric buses, procurement controversies have repeatedly sparked disputes between the administration and the lieutenant-governor.

Expansion of the city’s metro network has been similarly sluggish. On 5 January, Arvind Kejriwal proudly announced that the metro network had been extended by 200 km, with work ongoing to up the coverage by another 250 km. This is still short of the initial promise of extending the metro network by 500 km.

The much-publicised pledge to provide 40,000 litres of free clean water per family per month has proved to be another damp squib — the tanker mafia still rules. Complaints about dirty water persist, while many families report receiving exorbitant water bills. Kejriwal has now pledged to deliver clean water to all households and waive inflated bills over the next five years.

The Aam Aadmi Party had also sworn to check Delhi’s air pollution. Not only has pollution not reduced, it has worsened. In March 2024, environment minister Gopal Rai claimed that over 20 million trees and 3.5 million shrubs had been planted over four years, but no figures exist on their survival rate.

As for the disgraceful state of the river Yamuna, Arvind Kejriwal himself admitted that cleaning the river had remained an unfulfilled goal. The course-correction — if and when it moves beyond pre-poll promises — must begin with a clear acknowledgement of facts. The story of the city’s garbage disposal and waste management carries a similar stench, with no new landfill sites in sight to alleviate the growing crisis.