This is for all of us and our children, we are all coughing: CM Arvind Kejriwal on odd-even policy

“I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister two days ago. Although we have exempted Union ministers (from odd-even operations), the PM can try to appeal to his ministers, whoever can follow it voluntarily, like the Chief Justice of India, who said that he will follow (odd-even operations) and so will his co-judges. Even if we have exempted them, it will be a huge inspiration if judges of the High Court and Supreme Court start carpooling. We have to make this a people’s movement and not implement it with a danda,” said Kejriwal.

The government has exempted 20 categories of vehicles from the odd-even operations that will kick off in a week. Those exempted include vehicles of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, Governors of states/ Lt Governor, Chief Justice of India, Union ministers, Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Chief Ministers of states except Delhi, judges of Supreme Court and High Court, Lokayukta, women drivers accompanied by other women or a child under 12, SPG protectees and those with diplomatic corps registration numbers.

The chief minister also suggested other ways to persuade those violating the policy to follow it instead. “If you see a car next to you violating the odd-even formula, roll down your window and say bhaisaab, don’t do this. If 10 people do that, the violator may feel ashamed.”

Kejriwal said that his government had sought all the necessary approvals to implement the odd-even policy, including that of the Lieutenant Governor. A formal notification to enforce the odd-even policy will be issued on December 27.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that the exemptions were granted after receiving inputs from various sections.

According to government officials, the odd-even policy will not be applicable to the central government and the various bodies under it as they do not come under the Delhi government’s purview.

Exemptions granted in cases of medical emergencies, Kejriwal said, would be “trust-based”. He said that requests for exemptions were also received from doctors, lawyers and journalists.

Violating the odd-even operations will attract a fine of Rs 2,000, the CM said.

Citing the example of the car-free days organised by the Delhi government, Kejriwal said, “When our volunteers offer flowers and try to convince people not to drive their cars in the car-free area, 80 to 90 per cent of them agree. They take a U-turn and leave. There is no need to force people to follow the odd-even policy. We need to bring about a cultural change.”

On December 30, the chief minister will administer an oath to school children to request their parents to comply with the odd-even policy and contribute towards controlling pollution.

Appealing to private car owners to keep the health of their families in mind before rejecting the policy, Kejriwal said, “If people don’t cooperate, this effort will not be successful. If people completely refuse to follow it, we cannot challan the whole of Delhi… we will then have to scrap it. But I appeal to the people… please understand that this is for all of us, our children and our environment. We are all coughing.”

After the first phase, the Delhi government will assess its impact and plan the second phase accordingly . “If the people are not greatly inconvenienced and pollution levels are reduced, we may extend it to two-wheelers in the next phase,” said Kejriwal.