Kejriwal claims no one woman was unhappy over free rides

New Delhi: Hard selling his government's proposed scheme for free metro and bus travel for women in the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed not a single woman he met during the day was unhappy with the move.

Kejriwal made the claim during a foot march in the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency where he interacted with local residents, some of whom complained about power outages. "The scheme will be rolled out within two-and-a-half months. I've asked each and every woman here, and not a single woman I've met since morning has told me she is not happy with free travel in metro and bus," he claimed.

The Chief Minister also directed installation of an adequate number of transformers in the area to prevent any further distribution problems. "Delhi is the only city in the country that offers 24-hour power supply to all its residents," he claimed and added "there are some pockets in the city that are facing issues related to power and water supply".

"New transformers will be installed in areas where faults have been observed. We have already laid water pipelines in many colonies. These colonies will get piped water within a week. They don't have to rely on tankers any longer," he said.

On the NDA government's insistence on implementing Ayushman Bharat in Delhi, Kejriwal said, "According to the Centre's scheme, if you have a refrigerator, a two-wheeler or a television, you are not considered poor. Does this mean the rest of the people are not poor? Is it necessary that a two-wheeler owner can afford health care for all members of his/her family? Our scheme provides full treatment for free for all Delhi residents and has been functioning well for the past two years."