Delhi And Punjab Government Sign Knowledge Sharing Agreement, CM Kejriwal Says It's First Of Its Kind In History Of India

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann signed a knowledge-sharing agreement between the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in the national capital Tuesday (26 April).

Under this legally not enforceable agreement, the two governments will “learn and share knowledge, experiences and skills from each other for the welfare of the public”.

After signing the agreement, Arvind Kejriwal stated, “I think this is a first of its kind and unique incident in the history of India. It will be wrong to say that only our government has worked for the state but different parties and governments have worked with different states and came up with several initiatives for the public welfare in the last 75 years of India’s independence but this will be the first time where two (state) governments are signing such an agreement.”

“Changi Chiz Jittho bhi mile Sikh leni chaide (We should learn good things from wherever we get it)”, Punjab CM Mann said.

He added, “Punjab has acres of land where schools, sports grounds and many other things can be developed but some governments (previous ones) did not let them develop. Punjab has doctors, and teachers but there is no infrastructure”.

Mann said that the previous government polished the walls of schools and put a board saying ‘smart schools’ but the condition of the schools in Punjab is poor.

“You cannot cure cancer by applying Iodex. You need chemotherapy to cure the disease. Like that, the schools in Punjab need improvement, infrastructure development, good labs, sports facilities and teachers. So, our priority and focus will be on education and health. We will bring Delhi-like schools to Punjab,” Mann said.

Responding to criticisms of the agreement, CM Mann said this is a knowledge-sharing agreement between two governments to learn from each other. He added that, "Punjab is best in agriculture and known for agrarian development. The environment minister of Delhi can visit Punjab and learn the techniques and implement them in Delhi. If we have to learn from Italy, Singapore or any other country or state, we will go there and bring the same to Punjab. We aim to make Punjab, Punjab again. We don’t want to make it Paris or London. People just want their Punjab back and we will bring the old Punjab”.

When asked if the Delhi government will run the Punjab government from Delhi, Kejriwal said, “It is a knowledge-sharing agreement. If a CM of one state visits another state to learn, it is not one government trying to run the other government. Tamil Nadu CM Stalin visited Delhi schools, you cannot call that the Delhi government runs Tamil Nadu. It will be wrong to say so. Two states are learning from each other for the welfare of the public.”

Kejriwal also said that the Mann government in Punjab should be given some time to perform.

The agreement-signing ceremony was also attended by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendra Jain, Newly-appointed Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, cabinet ministers of Punjab and other senior officials from Delhi and Punjab.

Also Read: Post-AAP Tsunami, What Should Be The BJP’s Gameplay In Punjab?