New Delhi:EROS TIMES: After the Delhi Assembly Elections, Delhi’s development model has become a topic of discussion in the whole country, and now the foreign countries have also begun to take note of it.
A glimpse of this was seen in the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday, when New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his delegation came to meet Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
He was particularly impressed with the work done in the field of education and healthcare and showed keen interest in the education model of Delhi. Mr. Winston Peters and his team highly appreciated the Happiness Classes going on in Delhi’s government schools.
Earlier, America’s First Lady Melania Trump also praised the Delhi government for the Happiness classes in government schools.
It is also to be noted that many states in India are also implementing the education model of Delhi.
The New Zealand government agreed to work together with the Delhi government in the areas of higher education, business, and industry. New Zealand is the number one in the world in “ease of doing business” rankings. Mr. Winston Peters also agreed to collaborate with the Delhi Government to improve Delhi’s ease of doing business.
Mr. Winston Peters was accompanied by New Zealand Member of Parliament Ms. Priyanka Radhakrishnan, former Member of Parliament Mr. Mahesh Bindra, Principal Advisor Mr. Graham Motion, New Zealand Diplomat Mr. Michael Applause, Chief Press Secretary Mr. Alexander Masters and Mr. Andrew Needs, Divisional Manager of North and North East Division at the Ministry of External Affairs Arrived. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was accompanied by Manish Sisodia the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister, Satyendra Jain, Health and Urban Development Minister, Jasmine Shah, Vice Chairman of Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi and the Chief Secretary.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters first congratulated Arvind Kejriwal for becoming the Chief Minister for the third time in Delhi. Then he praised the development model of Delhi. After knowing the detailed works done in Delhi in the last five years, especially in the field of education and health, Mr. Peters appreciated the Delhi Chief Minister. The New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister was very keen to know how the government has brought drastic changes on such a scale in different areas in a short span of five years.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia explained to Mr. Peters and his delegation about the revolutionary changes that the Delhi government brought in the education sector. Sisodia informed the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister that the Delhi government has increased the education budget to 25 percent and sent teachers of Delhi’s government schools abroad for training and experience and the best practices they got from there were implemented in Delhi’s government schools. Manish Sisodia explained in detail about the Happiness Classes going on in Delhi’s government schools which struck a chord with the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters who was a school teacher earlier. Mr. Peters and the delegation were very impressed with this unique experiment in education.
The delegation from New Zealand government was also keen to know about the healthcare sector in Delhi. They were impressed with the major initiatives taken such as Mohalla clinics, Polyclinics, and improvements in government hospitals that have resulted in doubling of footfalls (OPD visits) in Delhi’s public health facilities in 5 years.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also held a discussion with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Winston Peters and his team on the Ease of Doing Business. Mr. Peters elaborated on the experiences of New Zealand government in this regard and agreed to collaborate with the Delhi Government in this area. Mr. Winston Peters said that corruption can also be reduced if the ease of doing business improves.
Apart from this, both governments agreed to work together in higher education and strengthening industry collaborations.
The Delhi Government expressed its desire to work closely with New Zealand for the betterment of Delhi’s higher educational institutions.
There was a consensus on strengthening the service sector in Delhi. Delhi’s role in India’s political and economic spheres was also discussed in the meeting.