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New Delhi: Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Friday announced that air purifiers will be installed in 10,000 classrooms to provide clean air to students. Addressing a press conference, Sood said the government was committed to tackling the pollution problem through long-term administrative reforms and policy measures.

Analyzing the previous Aam Aadmi Party government, he said, “We are not among those who flaunt their IIT degrees and run campaigns like Odd-Even or Gaadi On, Gaadi Off campaign. We are tackling the pollution problem through long-term administrative measures.”

The Odd-Even plan, which was first implemented by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the then Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was implemented twice in 2016, between January 1-15 and April 15-30.

The plan aimed to reduce vehicular pollution by restricting the movement of private vehicles based on the last digit of their license plate numbers.

According to Sood, there are 38,000 classrooms and air purification devices will be installed in these classrooms in a phased manner.

“We want our children to study smartly and at the same time breathe smart air. In the first stage, air purification devices will be installed in 10,000 classrooms. The tenders were held today.”

Official data shows that there are 1,047 government and state-aided schools.

The minister, who also holds the urban development portfolio, said the Ministry of Public Works will also procure mechanical road sweepers for each of the assembly constituencies using environmental clearance.

“Money is also being provided to MCD for supply of mechanical road sweeping machines. The Aam Aadmi Party government did nothing for MCD. Salaries of sanitation workers were not disclosed. They were in charge of MCD for two years. So what did they do?” he asked.

Sood also said that Delhi is surrounded by states and the weather conditions there determine the weather here.

“We are committed to eliminating pollution. I want to assure the people of Delhi that we are taking all possible steps that will show results on the ground very soon,” he added.