No mohalla clinic proposal, file pending with my office, says Delhi L-G Baijal

A statement from the CM office, however, said that the chief minister offered to visit the L-G house along with cabinet colleagues to discuss the matter but Baijal refused to oblige.

Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal said on Wednesday that no proposal or file about mohalla clinics was pending with his office even as he criticised the ruling party legislators for “storming’ the Raj Niwas, saying it “displayed conduct unbecoming of responsible elected representatives”.

Aam Aadmi Party legislators after meeting with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's house.

Replying to the allegations of the file being kept pending with the vigilance department, the L-G office said that the legislators were informed that the “complaints and vigilance findings about the alleged irregularities in mohalla clinics is yet to be addressed by elected government”.

Even as the AAP legislators and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took to social media saying that the entire cabinet was willing to reach L-G House and to settle the issue instantly, Baijals’ office said that the chief minister instead chose to skip the weekly review meeting held every Wednesday at 5 pm.

“The L-G, after a patient hearing of the views of the MLAs, explained the current status of the proposal and clearly outlined the progress so far. Unfortunately, the behaviour of the members increasingly became extremely rude and discourteous,” a statement from the L-G office said.

Despite being given a chronological status of the entire proposal and repeatedly being told by the L-G that the proposal has been returned to the chief minister on July 5 with a request to address the complaints, the MLAs continued to behave in a belligerent manner without any interest in responding to facts and logic, officials said.

“The L-G also spoke to the CM with a view to resolve the matter and explained that in a democratic government, decisions are taken on the basis of facts as per law and there is no file currently pending with the L-G office on the subject. Decision can be taken only after a proper proposal is submitted by the health minister. Laying siege to the office of a constitutional functionary is no way to resolve issues in a democratic system based on rule of law. However, the CM did not relent and did not come to the office of L-G skipping the weekly meeting of CM and L-G,” it said.

A statement from the CM office, however, said that the chief minister offered to visit the L-G house along with cabinet colleagues to discuss the matter but Baijal refused to oblige.

“The file seeking approval for setting up mohalla clinics was sent to L-G in May and he marked the file to the vigilance department, two months later. The vigilance department refused to share it with the minister-in-charge, Manish Sisodia, despite his repeated reminders over several days,” the statement from CM office said.

The L-G office said that several complaints were received in the L-G secretariat pertaining to conceptualisation and implementation of mohalla clinics that have been set up so far. The matter is under investigation by the Vigilance Department, officials said.