Exclusive: 'Education, Minimum Wages, Cleanliness Will Be The Priority..', CPI (M) Candidate Ashok Agarwal

Karawal Nagar, New Delhi: Timeline reached to  Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI (M) candidate Advocate Ashok Agarwal, who is contesting for the Delhi Assembly Election 2025 from Karawal Nagar assembly constituency. CPI (M) fielded two candidates for the Delhi assembly elections, Ashok Agarwal and Jagadish Chand Sharma from Badarpur. Timeline conducted an exclusive interview with the Karawal Nagar candidate Ashok Agarwal.

Can you please introduce yourself ?

My name is Ashok Agarwal and I am a professional lawyer. I have been working in the High Court and Supreme Court for the past 50 years. I have been working for the poor, for the helpless, for the sick, for the children, for the women, for the disabled. I have been working for the poor, for the helpless, for the sick, for the children, for the women, for the disabled.

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How the CPI (M) is looking at the Delhi election differently from the previous elections?

As you can see, Ashok Agarwal is standing. So, there is a difference already. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the people and in the party as well. So, we are working in an advanced situation. We are working with a lot of hope that people will vote for us.

How do you see the BJP’s work in Karawal Nagar in the past years and how do you think to do differently from the BJP?

Look, there is BJP here as well. And if we take Shriram Colony as an example, there is a consular for the Aam Aadmi Party as well. So, these people have not solved any of the problems of the people in their tenure. Today, they are in such a situation that they cannot even roam in the area. They have changed the previous MLA from here. He has been an MLA for 25 years.

So, you can see the condition of the people here. Look at the condition of the roads. You cannot even walk. Cars and motors are a different thing. The drains are overflowing. They are coming out. There is no water facility. Even the water that comes is not drinkable. And there is air pollution in Delhi. They are suffering from that as well. And the most terrible thing is that there is garbage in the entire Karawal Nagar. And there is more sport in that when the road is bad and it rains. The water of the drain starts flowing.

I have seen that in every third house, one person is sick or disabled. So, there are a lot of problems. There is a problem of people’s pension. There is a problem of health. There is a problem of good education. These are all problems that have no address.

On the other hand, our party and we have brought a lot of change in the government schools. There was a two-hour class for many years in the government schools. They used to call the children in the alternate days.

One and a half hundred children used to sit in one class. Two teachers used to sit in one class. The furniture is broken down to the desk. So, in such a situation, we intervened. We got an intervention from the court. And some things have changed. Books were not given for the whole year. Now, if you don’t give books to the children for half a year, then what will be the education? 30% of the unenrolled children do not come to school. You are not addressing that problem.

Out of school children is such a big number. There is child labor here. You are not addressing that. All children should be in school. All children need good education. There is a bad condition in terms of health today.

People are not getting medicine or treatment. And if you need an ICU or ventilator bed, then I can say with confidence that you cannot get it in the Delhi government. Your patient will go either in private or will be robbed or will not be able to get treatment. Then whatever will happen to him will happen. So, these are all problems that these people have not addressed. And people are fighting for old age pensions.

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People are fighting to get ration cards made. Even today, the issue of roti, cloth, house, which was created in 1947, is still the same. So, there is no advancement anywhere. And there is a lot of poverty here. I don’t think that the average income of a family is more than 5,000 to 6,000 rupees a month.

So, how will you do it? What treatment will you do? What will you teach? Our constitution says that there is a living wage. Who has a living wage? There is no fair wage or minimum wage. There is a minimum wage of 18,000 to 60,000 per month for unskilled workers. And here, just yesterday we had a meeting with people.

If the government of the CPI (M) comes into power then how do you think you can increase the living wage?

There are two parts. One is that there is a need to make a lot of laws in the assembly. So, we will make those laws, with which the parents who pay the fees are robbing private schools. This is their problem. The children who are getting admission in private schools, they can only study till 8th grade. The rest of the children are being thrown out. For that, we need a law so that they can study till 12th grade.

And the casual teachers, guest teachers, they get one third of the regular salary. They should get equal pay. For that, there is a need for legislation. So, on the one hand, there is a need for legislation. On the other hand, the fund that you get, the MLA fund, you get it together with the people, ask the people, prioritize it, and spend it. Here, it is not visible.

It seems that whatever happened, it has gone into corruption. So, as you said, the C.P.I.M. has done a lot of work here in the last 20-25 years. There is electricity, there is dispensary, there are schools, they have worked.

But despite all the existing problems why people are electing the MLA’s of BJP or AAP? What would you say about that?

See, here, these kinds of sentences are left out in the entire system. This leads to confusion among people. If Hindus and Muslims leave, then where will they ask us? And in this way, in different ways, some talk about Ramji, some talk about Hanumanji.

These are all diversions. Because of these diversions, sometimes we are unable to connect with them or they are unable to understand us. But we are trying.

And in the coming time, because there is no other option. This labor movement, or more than 90% of the labor movement, which is being exploited, for them, our party is the best party. And this is their own party.

What message to you give to the workers and poor classes with dormant conscience, who despite so much helplessness, and bad situation, they choose the same party, or still get lost in the name of religion?

First of all, we need to fight against slavery in India. Secondly, we need to educate people about slavery.We need to educate people about slavery. So that their level of consciousness increases. And if their level of consciousness increases, then I think all the questions will be answered.

Do you think you need to change the organizational capacity of the CPI (M)?

The capacity of the CPI (M) increases with the work we do. The more we get along with people, the more we will struggle with them. The more we can deliver together, the more people will join us. And the organization will also grow. It is not coming from a foreign country.

Your party’s manifesto talks about statehood in Delhi.How do you see that? About what?

About statehood in Delhi. There has always been a demand for statehood. At one time, Delhi had statehood. Later, it was made a metropolitan assembly. Statehood should be there so that an agency should have full responsibility. Only then you can take responsibility for it. Today, the central government is responsible for small things. LG is responsible. The state government is responsible. And there is another MCD agency. There are multiple agencies here. Sometimes the court is also troubled to solve a problem. So when multiple agencies have a problem with statehood, I think a larger extent will be solved.

What will be the priority of your government, if wins?

I think the most important thing is to address the cleanliness of the roads. And also to address the general problems.