Sisodia alleges BJP wants all Delhi govt schools to be shut down to make way for private players
New Delhi, Aug 27: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday claimed the BJP has started "weaving a new fabricated story" of corruption in the construction of Delhi government schools to target him after the CBI could not find anything against him in the excise policy case.
Addressing a press conference, he also claimed the BJP was bringing up such a fake story of corruption under a conspiracy to close down all government schools and pave the way for opening of private schools in the national capital.
Sisodia called the BJP a "party of illiterates" and alleged at least 72,000 government schools in the states ruled by the saffron party have been closed in the past seven years to make way for the opening of private schools.
Sisodia's claims came a day after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena sought a report from the chief secretary over a delay of more than two-and-half years in acting on a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report on an inquiry into the construction of additional classrooms in government schools.
The report, which found gross irregularities and procedural lapses in execution of the projects, was sent by the CVC to the vigilance secretary in February 2020, seeking comments for further investigation and action.
Leaving aside the issue of liquor, they have now started raising a new fabricated story of scam in construction of Delhi government school buildings since yesterday, Sisodia told the press conference, without referring to the LG's directive to the chief secretary.
He alleged that the BJP has started making up a fake story of corruption in the construction of Delhi government school buildings after realising that nothing is coming out from the CBI probe in the alleged scam in excise policy.
Sisodia termed all the allegations of corruption against him as lies and alleged it's the BJP's ploy to close down all the government schools in the city to pave the way for the opening of private schools.
"They are doing this under a conspiracy as the Delhi government schools have been providing quality education to its students with a world-class standard of pedagogy, state-of-the-art buildings and other infrastructure, he claimed.
The Kejriwal dispensation is being appreciated all over the world for transforming the Delhi government schools, he said.
They are worried that people will start raising questions on their model of education which promotes opening of private schools if they understand that it is possible to improve the performance of government schools and make them better than the private schools...They want to ruin the country, Sisodia added.
The deputy chief minister said the BJP can get the CBI conduct another raid at his residence if it wants to do so but the Aam Aadmi Party will not let the saffron party "shut a single school in Delhi .
I am not scared of raids and cases, he said.
Citing government data, Sisodia said that at least 72,000 government schools have been closed in the BJP-ruled states in the last seven years to make way for 12,000 private schools, while the Kejriwal government built 700 new school buildings in the national capital since 2015.
"BJP worked on a mission mode to shut government schools. As many as 51,000 schools were shut between September 2018-September 2019 itself, he claimed.
He said the Delhi government has spent money on providing schools with state-of-the-art buildings and other infrastructure.
Cost will increase when you spend money on building amazing schools with good tiles, good desks and washrooms. It is the government's responsibility to provide good schools to children, he said.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
