LG says cost data not included in proposal, AAP says it ‘rejects’
Last updated: 18 Jan 2023, 10:04 AM IST
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal condemned LG Vinai K Saxena’s decision in a fiery speech in the Assembly on the second day of the session on Tuesday. (PTI photo)
According to LG’s office, the file was sent back because it did not mention the costs of the Finnish tour. AAP MLAs have called the disallowance “unconstitutional” as the LG cannot oppose the CM-elect’s proposal on “deferred subjects”.
At a time when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is on the sidelines and its top leader is taking to the streets to stir up objections from the Lieutenant Governor (LG) over the Delhi government’s proposed teacher training trip to Finland, the LG House said the said file “did not contain expenditure information” or the average cost of the trip – a claim , which the party says LG “has no authority to do.”
Delhi Chief Minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal condemned LG Vinai K Saxena’s decision in a fiery speech in the Assembly on the second day of the session on Tuesday, when its MLAs moved a motion and passed a resolution against the rejection of the tour.
According to the officials sent to the LG office, the file was sent back because it did not mention the expenses of the entire tour. “It is a crucial detail to clear the proposal in the first place. That is why the LG asked for these details and a cost-benefit analysis of the tour, but the Delhi government has not provided such details so far,” said a senior official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Senior AAP leader and MLA Atishi Singh said, “The LG has no power to question any proposal sent by the elected government. He can either accept it or send it to the President if there is a difference of opinion.”
Also, when asked about the average cost of the tour, the AAP leaders refrained from sharing the same.
Calling the disallowance “unconstitutional”, AAP MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said the LG cannot oppose the CM-elect’s proposal on “deferred subjects”. “LG questioned the need for teachers to go to Finland. So we want to tell him globally that only two educational models are widely recognized – Delhi and Finland. That’s why we want our primary school teachers to go to Finland to study their education model, which will help us further develop our education system here.
The Delhi government had proposed that 30 primary school teachers be sent to the University of Jyväskylä in March this year. On January 12, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia announced that the LG has suspended the proposal because it did not allow its primary school teachers to go on tour.
The AAP and the BJP-led center have been locked in a bitter battle, with the latter questioning the sending of teachers to Finland and raising questions as to why it could not conduct training in the country itself.
Legal fight
Education is a subject transferred to the Delhi Legislative Assembly in the Constitution. Currently, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing the dispute between the Delhi government and the Center over the management of services. In 2018, another such Constitution Bench has ruled in favor of the AAP-led state government in a similar dispute.
From the teacher training program?
The Delhi government, under its State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), had planned to send primary school teachers to the University of Jyväskylä for a five-day training program. The group includes primary heads of Delhi government schools and teachers from SCERT.
The State Council has an annual budget for such training programs and has been given grants by the Delhi government to organize such exchanges with other countries. The ruling AAP government plans to train 1,000 such trainers in Finland in different batches.
A team from Finland had visited Kerala last year to study Kerala’s education model.
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