AAP, top official spar over ‘scam’ at Delhi Covid care centre

The matter pertains to the development of 10,000-bed centre Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre & Hospital

Vigilance and Public Works Department (PWD) minister Atishi has alleged corruption in the setting up of a 10,000-bed Covid facility at Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) campus at Chhatarpur in south Delhi in 2020, and said she has written to chief secretary Naresh Kumar, who is also the chief vigilance officer, to investigate the matter.

The facility at the time was 1,700 feet long, 700 feet wide—roughly the size of 20 football fields—and had 200 enclosures with 50 beds each. (HT Archive)

However, Kumar has alleged that the matter is already under investigation after an order from the Delhi high court, and claimed that the minister was not allowing the government to submit in court a report filed by a three-member panel constituted on April 10, and is “raising queries time and again”.

The matter pertains to the development of the 10,000-bed Covid care centre, called Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital, on the premises of the RSSB campus in June-July 2020. The facility at the time was 1,700 feet long, 700 feet wide—roughly the size of 20 football fields—and had 200 enclosures with 50 beds each.

When the number of Covid-positive cases rose at the time, the then lieutenant governor Anil Baijal directed the chief secretary to explore the feasibility of the facility on June 10, 2020. Four days later on June 14, Baijal announced the project publicly and engaged RSSB on a pro bono basis.

PWD set up a team of four officials to execute the project, who visited the site on June 21, 2020 for inspection and to offer technical assistance to provide temporary air conditioning at the facility as it was peak summer. The team was to submit an estimate for the work but they observed that “some work on the temporary air conditioning system was already under progress,” the report by the three-member panel, dated April 10, said.

Atishi, in a September 25 letter to Kumar, flagged “glaring discrepancies” in the setting up of the facility, stating that the records raise “strong suspicion of corrupt practices”, “underhand transactions” and “cronyism”.

The letter said that a private firm was already carrying out air conditioning work at the facility without a work order being issued, and PWD invited spot tenders for the work later. Her letter was based on the report filed by the three-member panel.

However, Kumar said it was not the vigilance minister who ordered an inquiry but the Delhi high court in an order dated April 24. He said the court has also sought the stand of the Delhi government in the matter.

According to Kumar, the panel submitted its report to the government shortly after directions from the high court but the minister was not allowing the report to be submitted. “Prima facie, few officers, PWD officials and revenue officials are involved in the matter, and their roles are under inquiry,” said Kumar.

According to the panel’s report, PWD received the official requisition for this work on June 22, 2020, from the deputy commissioner (south) and the agency floated the tender on June 26, 2020, even as the work was already under progress in the intervening period.

The private firm had filed a writ petition to get compensated for the work. While hearing the petition on March 24 this year, the high court directed Kumar to examine the matter which led to formation of the panel.

However, it was not clear whether the company was paid at all.

Atishi’s note also added that the then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia flagged that spending ₹32 crore on a temporary air conditioning system “could not be justified”.

HT reached out to the LG secretariat which did not respond to queries seeking a comment.