Good education for kids can help alleviate poverty from society, says CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said good education for children can create an impact that can help alleviate poverty.

Addressing a gathering at a function at the Civic Centre — the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters — here on the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, he said teachers, sanitation workers and other employees will “work magic” in the next couple of years to improve the system like their counterparts in the Delhi government have done in the past few years.

The AAP governs both the Delhi government and the MCD.

In his address, he extolled Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, for laying out a vision for equality and egalitarianism in society and hailed his pursuit of higher education during the British era when not many Indians thought about getting degrees from institutions such as the Columbia University and the London School of Economics. Ambedkar knew the value of education and its role in lifting society from poverty and bringing equality among people, the chief minister said.

He also placed a floral tribute at the statue of Ambedkar on the Civic Centre premises.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal paid homage to Ambedkar in a tweet. “Tribute to revered Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar ji on his anniversary. Let’s come together to create an India where all children in the country will get a better education, the country will progress and become number one in the world,” he tweeted in Hindi.

In his address at the MCD event, he also announced that the AAP-led dispensation plans to bring “healthy competition” to improve civic affairs in the city.

“A ‘model RWA award’ has been proposed by Saurabh Bharadwaj so that one RWA (Residents’ Welfare Association) can be picked as the best RWA every year. Then we can have ‘best park’, ‘best sanitation worker’, ‘best sanitary inspector’, among other awards, in each ward so that people give their best,” Kejriwal said. He cited the example of Delhi government schools and said when he was working with his NGO before joining politics, people used to “criticise Delhi government schools” and “look down upon its

schoolteachers”.