Free education, healthcare not freebies, can eliminate poverty: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asserted that free education and healthcare are not freebies and access to these services can make India rich and eliminate the country’s poverty in one generation.
At the Delhi government’s Independence Day event at Chhatrasal Stadium here, he also emphasised that school education and healthcare in the entire country can be revamped in five years, as this has happened in the national capital.
There has been political acrimony over the issue of freebies, with the BJP accusing Kejriwal of using it as a “bait” to trap people for power, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month cautioned people against what he called the “revdi culture” of offering freebies for votes.
Also Read Centre spending taxpayers’ money to waive loans of super rich: Kejriwal Explaining his vision for India of the future, the chief minister laid stress on education and health, citing the two words 50 and 30 times, respectively, in his 40-minute speech.
At the event where thousands of children were invited, Kejriwal said the country’s 130 crore people need to come together and resolve to make India the number one country in the world.
“We came together and chased the Britishers out. Today, if we come together, we can make India the top country in the world,” he said.