New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today took strong exception to reported move to reverse erstwhile Arvind Kejriwal-led government`s decision to provide 20 kilo litre of free water per month to Delhi residents and accused Congress and BJP of being behind the "anti-people" decision.
"If these reports are indeed true, it will become clear that Congress-led UPA`s government is hell bent on taking a revenge on the people of Delhi for having ousted its corrupt Sheila Dikshit government from power in the national capital.
"AAP will take this issue to the people and will expose the unholy alliance between Congress and BJP to reverse the pro-people decisions taken by the government," AAP said in a press statement.
Questioning the Centre`s authority in taking the reported decision, AAP said "DJB`s decision cannot be reversed by either the Lieutenant Governor or the central government, since the Board is an autonomous body and any undue interference in its functioning is condemnable."
AAP said there is no major financial implication in continuing the free water scheme and DJB has sufficient resources to continue it.
"The Board, which has an existing budget of nearly Rs 4,000 crore per year can, without any difficulty, provide 20,000 litres of water per month for the entire year for merely Rs 160 crore.
"Therefore, the argument that the AAP government scheme was imposing a financial burden on government resources is misleading and bogus," the statement said.
"It is shocking to note that despite the Lt Governor`s reported statement to continue the public welfare schemes launched by the AAP government, UPA government is taking anti-people decisions one after the other to impose unreasonable burdens on the people of Delhi."
