AAP’s Ultimate Goal Is Free Healthcare For All From Birth To Old Age: Satyendar Jain To News18 – News18

Last Updated:January 09, 2025, 07:00 IST

Delhi elections: “We want all students in Delhi, or at least 80 per cent of them, to study in government schools,” says AAP’s Satyendar Jain

While Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will provide free treatment to senior citizens in the national capital even in private hospitals if it is re-elected, the ultimate aim is to cover each individual from birth under a similar setup, Satyendar Jain, former health minister and the creator of mohalla clinics, told News18.

The leader said the party and the government will not consider itself successful until quality education and healthcare are provided to all. In case of education, Jain said the aim is to bring at least 80% students in Delhi to public schools.

Jain shared that so far at least three lakh students in Delhi have moved to government schools from private schools as the quality of education has improved. This number, he assured, will go up further if the AAP is re-elected in 2025. “We want to give every citizen of Delhi quality education and quality healthcare… You will see how a big share of students will move from private to public schools in the near future. We want all students in Delhi, or at least 80 per cent of them, to study in government schools. Similar wish is for healthcare,” he said.

Jain said maximum people in Delhi should use government healthcare and until the AAP and its government achieve this, they will not consider themselves successful.

Delhi will go to polls on February 5 and the results will be announced on February 8.

‘WHY NO FREE HEALTHCARE FOR THOSE ABOVE POVERTY LINE?’

Speaking about the AAP’s poll promise of free healthcare for elders above the age of 60, Jain said this will eventually cover each and every citizen without any eligibility or class division. “Be it Rs 1 lakh or Rs 1 crore, the treatment in public and private hospitals will be free for senior citizens. This is the first stage. We will consider ourselves successful only if we provide this scheme to each and every individual without any economic or class divide,” he assured, adding, “It will eventually cover 100 per cent population in Delhi.”

Slamming the political parties and past governments in India, he said they have drawn a line called the poverty line. “All schemes are for those below the poverty line. Why will you not cover those who are above the poverty line in the healthcare scheme? They are the ones who are paying taxes. But the governments say that because they can afford the cost of treatment, they will not be covered. They first pay the taxes and then pay for their healthcare too,” Jain said.

‘WANT TAXPAYERS TO SEND KIDS TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS’

Speaking about education, he said the middle class pays the taxes, but the quality of education so far was so bad that their children could not enrol in those schools. “Why were public schools bad? Those who are actually paying for these schemes and schools are not able to benefit from them. We will consider ourselves successful only when the taxpayers will send their students to public schools. Our target is to cover all the health expenses from the day a child is born,” Jain added.

Now the question, he further said, will be why it took so long to achieve all this. Explaining this, Jain said climbing a high-rise building takes time and first the initial floors have to be climbed. “So far, the situation was so bad that everything and everyone was in the basement. Now we have managed to get to the middle floors. You can’t go to the 10th floor directly. I can assure our target and direction are right,” he said.

Jain is contesting for the fourth time from Shakur Basti. While the candidate from the Congress has been announced, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to announce its candidate against Jain. Reacting to this, he said: “The public doesn’t vote for the BJP based on the candidate. They may not even know who the candidate was. The BJP doesn’t have any issue or narrative.”

‘WELL-WISHERS TOLD ME TO QUIT POLITICS’

Speaking about the case he is facing and his almost two-year-long prison stay, Jain said people are saying he should not have been sent to jail. “Politics has its own place and should be done for a few months (around the elections). Post that, we are all citizens of this country. The aim should be to perform better than others and not stop others from working,” Jain said.

About his case and the pressure, he said those who switched sides to the BJP are not facing any cases or charges. But those who refused, ended up in jail, he said. Jain shared that his well-wishers suggested that he should quit politics after he was released from jail.

“I was a working professional already and had everything one needed for survival. I left a lot of things for politics and public service was the only thing on my mind… But I felt that this is not the time to quit. What was the point of going to jail then? Now we will fight. And the elections will focus on our work, that is our only strength,” he said.

‘PEOPLE OF DELHI WILL VOTE FOR OUR WORK’

Jain said that leaders from the AAP were from simple families and they don’t have anything except their performance to show.

“People will vote for me because I built flyovers and mohalla clinics and not because I am a son of a government school teacher or a grandson of a farmer and that I was born in a village,” he said.

Jain also said that the people in Delhi are very smart and clear in their head about what they need. “People did not give us even one seat in the Lok Sabha as they were very clear that we were not becoming the prime minister and not in the race. So the public decided that the votes should not be wasted on the AAP. But in assembly, people know that there is no option other than Kejriwal,” Jain said.

For big tasks, like how to deal with neighbouring Pakistan, China or Bangladesh, people have elected the MPs in Delhi. “The big responsibility is with them. Let us take the smaller responsibilities of education and health,” Jain said, assuring that the AAP will win the 2025 assembly polls.