There are two issues which have been debated by the media, specially TV. One is that there is an outbreak of water-borne diseases in Delhi and second is that during this time the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi is away in Finland and he did not cut his visit short even when the people of Delhi are suffering. Manish Sisodia has gone to study the education system of Finland which is supposed to be one of the best in the world. There is one more issue. According to media reports, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Mr Najeeb Jung has summoned Manish to Delhi immediately.
There is no denying the fact that water-borne diseases have acquired an epidemic proportion: Chikungunya and Dengue have created havoc in the national capital and people are scared. It so happened that the day the newspapers reported the first death by chikungunya, five minsters including the Chief Minister were away from Delhi. It is another matter that during the same time, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi was also holidaying in the USA and the Heath Secretary was on leave for 15 days. But as always happens, the AAP government was severely criticised though the Health Minister cut short his visit to Goa and landed in Delhi on the same day and took control of the administration.
At the outset, this looks like a routine exercise in the affairs of a government but it needs deeper introspection. In a democracy, criticism is welcome and unavoidable. It keeps governments on their toes and make them accountable and responsible. I have no quarrel with that but I want to raise a bigger issue. What should be the issue? The governance or the incidental absence of the ministers? What should be debated - the media's right to criticise or the embedded journalism pursued by a few media houses at the behest of the Modi Government? What is at stake - the freedom of expression or perversion of the media freedom?
The absence of ministers is incidental. Arvind was scheduled to go for a long pending surgery for his cough which he could not have avoided. But may I ask since when has India started mocking the illness of a leader or a person? I was reminded of Sonia Gandhi's illness a few years back and when a section of the political spectrum made fun of her illness, it was universally condemned and the media backed off. Similarly, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was suffering from a knee problem and when Time magazine wrote about it in a derogatory manner, the reporter was asked to apologise and he did. India has never indulged in cheap thrills about any leader's infirmities but Arvind was mocked. Sonia's party Congress declared him a
Bhagoda, Modi supporters used all kinds of names in the social media. I ask, is it justified, is it morally correct?
Manish had not gone on a junket to Finland. It is a perfectly legitimate official tour but it has been made out as if he is the most insensitive human being, having fun when people were dying in Delhi! It is nonsense. The campaign run by a few TV channels has exposed itself thoroughly. It had shown an ulterior motive. The fact is that health and education have been two flagship programmes of the AAP government. AAP has promised to structurally and functionally reform these two sectors which have been the most neglected in our country since independence.
AAP had made a promise that it would bring government schools at par with the private schools and in the last 18 months, it has been true to its promise. Major reform initiatives have been taken. More than 8,000 classrooms have been built, the institution of the Principal has been made the pivot of the educational reform, the curriculum has been changed to meet the demands of the most modern educational needs of a student, teachers have been sent to prestigious institutions like Harvard and Oxford universities to hone their skills, and all this has shown results.
Similarly, the AAP government has made serious efforts to revolutionise the health sector. A three-tier system has been devised to make health services accessible and affordable to the common man.
Mohalla clinics have created waves across the globe. The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune have written that the USA should learn from the Delhi government about this part of health services. Medicines have been made available free in Delhi government hospitals.
Our adversaries have of course not liked these two initiatives, specially the Modi government. The spread of chikungunya and dengue came as a God-sent opportunity for such people to discredit AAP's record of governance and malign its path-breaking efforts in the field of education and health. Unfortunately, the media also became a party to their celebration. There was no debate on what preparations had been made by the AAP government despite the very clear Delhi High Court orders that Lieutenant Governor would be the fountain head of the Delhi administration.
The first meeting to meet the crisis of water-borne diseases was held in the month of February by AAP government. The number of fever clinics was increased by more than 650%, from 55 to 355 in comparison to last year. 1,000 beds were added in advance in Delhi government hospitals, capping of prices on testing in private hospitals was done long before the breakout of the disease. Water-borne disease grants were released by the AAP government to municipal bodies without any requests from them for the same on the 6th of June. According to the 1957 Delhi Act, sanitation is the prime responsibility of the municipal bodies. They should have taken the initiative but they did not. According to media reports, the
Swachchata Abhiyan fund which was sent by the union government for cleanliness was not utilised at all. The NDMC did not use a single penny and South MCD spent only 0.25% of the allocated budget. Since preventive measures were not taken, curative measures became difficult and carpet coverage created panic which made hospitals jobs more difficult.
Then the Health Secretary was removed despite the repeated requests by the AAP Government to not do so. The new Health Secretary's request for 15 days' leave was granted by the same Lieutenant Governor at the same time. Was it by design? And now it is reported that the Lieutenant Governor has summoned the deputy Chief Minister to immediately report to Delhi. This was done at a time when Health Minister Satyendra Jain is in full command of the situation and there is no need to panic. May I ask under which rule and article of the constitution can he do that? Does the Lieutenant Governor think that in Delhi, the relationship between the Lieutenant Governor and an elected government is of the nature of employer and employee? If it is so, then it should immediately be spelt out. Because there can never be a greater insult to the will of the people than an unelected Lieutenant Governor assuming that he is the employer and can hire and fire an elected government at his will.
With my experience of being a journalist, I find that the role of a few channels has also not been up to universally acceptable parameters of ethics of journalism. There has been an attempt to turn a non-story into a story. Manish's presence in Finland was termed a fun trip which it was not. One can send a reporter and verify things with the Finland government. But such an attempt was not made. Judgements were passed and a diabolical attempt was made to tarnish the image of an honest and hard-working minster. Should the media not introspect? Should it not be questioned why the same channels are not questioning arrest of the Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani when Modi is visiting Gujarat? Everybody knows that cities like Ahmedabad and Surat have been turned into police camps as if martial law has been imposed. Dalit and Patidar leaders' house are raided and threatened by the police as happens normally in an emergency.
AAP is open for any kind of scrutiny by media and otherwise too, but if the media becomes complicit in a political conspiracy, then questions should be asked about the efficacy of democracy. And also, is the media really free in Modi Times? The debate should continue!
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.