Congress accuses AAP govt of ₹380cr ‘health scam’

The CAG report, the Congress claimed, is one of 14 audits covering key issues, including Delhi’s liquor policy, vehicular pollution, public health, and the performance of government departments from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

The Congress on Wednesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi of siphoning ₹382 crore through a scam related to the development of health infrastructure in the Capital, and cited a purported audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to make the charge.

Ajay Maken

The CAG report, the Congress claimed, is one of 14 audits covering key issues, including Delhi’s liquor policy, vehicular pollution, public health, and the performance of government departments from 2017-18 to 2020-21. The AAP has come under fire from opposition parties as well as LG VK Saxena for not tabling the reports in the state assembly.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Congress headquarters, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said the CAG reports were not tabled in the House because they highlight major lapses and scams on part of the government. “There were 14 CAG reports to be tabled in the legislative assembly. However, the reports did not see the light of day due to a slinging match between the chief minister [Atishi] and the LG, and an attempt to conceal corruption and delay, which the CAG has exposed in Delhi. One such CAG report suggests a scam by Kejriwal related to health which is worth ₹382 crore. In more than 240 pages of the report, the CAG critically evaluated the performance of GNCTD in public health infrastructure,” he said.

Maken, citing one purported CAG report, said that the AAP over the past 10 years has built just three hospitals, and alleged that the construction for all three started during the tenure of the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government.

From the initial tendered amount, he said, an extra ₹382 crore was spent on the construction of these hospitals. “We are exposing one of the 14 reports of his [Kejriwal’s] corruption in the health sector... There has been a scam of ₹382.52 crore in the health sector, while Kejriwal gives a statement that we complete the work before time and by saving money… Kejriwal built only 3 hospitals in 10 years, work on which was started during Congress rule, the total cost overrun by ₹382.52 crore,” Maken said.

HT could not independently verify the claims about the CAG reports, as they have not been released for the public yet.

The AAP, in a statement, said that the Congress was echoing BJP’s allegations. “Congress turns a blind eye to official CAG reports exposing rampant corruption in BJP-ruled states,” the statement added.