Teachers in Delhi government schools were presented with an early Diwali gift, as the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party government declared that 15,000 guest teachers in government schools will now be made permanent employees. Passing a bill in the Cabinet, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the portfolio for Education, said that besides deliberating to finalise the permanent status of guest teachers in Delhi's government schools, AAP would also rid the system of its practice of removing guest teachers every year, who would now also have access to all official training facilities. In August, the Delhi Assembly had passed a resolution demanding that the teacher recruitment process initiated by DSSSB be put on hold as it did not accommodate the guest teachers employed by the city government. Of the 50,000 guest teachers in the national capital, 17,000 had passed the Central Teacher Eligibility Test, and 15,000 of them fulfilled all other criteria to become permanent members of staff. This move by the Delhi government is significant as it emphasises the undying importance of education and teaching. Government schools across our country have long suffered due to inadequate staff members who conducted sub-standard classes.
Now, with 15,000 more teachers ushered into the public education system, it is expected that the state education schools in Delhi would be revamped, catering to the growing demands of providing education to all citizens of the country. With education receiving a positive boost from the Kejriwal-Sisodia policymaking, medical practitioners employed by the central government also received an unexpected boon as their retirement age was raised to 65 from the existing cut-off at 60. The country's public health system has been grappling with the difficulty of growing patients and dwindling numbers of doctors. To directly resolve this crisis, the government took this bold decision that will be accessible to all doctors of AYUSH and those employed by the Central government, excluding those in the Central Health Service, which includes those employed in the railways and the armed forces. Their retirement age had been increased to 65 only last year, which can be seen as a precursor that led the government towards taking this holistic call for all doctors employed to serve for public health. Accessible public education and health are two pillars that indicate the well-being of a democracy. In a country like ours, with a population that shows no signs of containment, equal access to education and health are prime avenues that qualitatively improve prevailing conditions of life. The moves by both the Delhi and the Central governments bring to light the importance of health and education, also highlighting the urgent need to refurbish both.