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AAP-led Delhi govt ‘grossly mismanaged’ Covid funds: CAG report
The CAG report reviews the status of Delhi's government hospitals, mohalla clinics, and other health facilities under the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rule.
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Friday tabled the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Capital's health services in the assembly, ANI reported.
As per the CAG report, the previous AAP-led government in Delhi “grossly mismanaged” the COVID pandemic in the national capital, using only ₹582.84 crore of the total ₹787.91 crore released by the central government, according to ANI.
The CAG performance audit report 5 of the year 2024 for the period 2016-17 to 2021-22 also flagged the "dire status" of Mohalla clinics under the AAP government.
The report said that 21 Mohalla clinics did not have toilets, 15 did not have a power backup, six did not have any table for check-up and 12 did not have accessibility for the physically disabled.
“Similar was the situation of the AYUSH dispensaries, with 17 of the 49 inspected dispensaries having no power backup, 7 having no toilet, and 14 having no facility for drinking water,” the report said, according to ANI.
This is the second CAG report to be presented in the assembly. It reviews the status of Delhi's government hospitals, mohalla clinics, and other health facilities under the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rule.
BJP targets AAP over CAG report
Prior to the report's tabling, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started cornering the previous Delhi government and alleged that there is a huge lack of facilities in government hospitals and that patients have to wander around for treatment, according to ANI.
Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed that the second CAG report would expose how former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal misused funds for hospitals and health services.
"…How he (Kejriwal) looted Delhi in the name of hospitals and health services...How there was no power supply in mohalla clinics...The pages of the CAG report will say that Arvind Kejriwal is 'kattar beimaan'," he said, according to ANI.
However, the AAP said that the BJP was trying to set a narrative by using a normal process of presenting CAG reports.
"This is a normal process, although BJP has a habit of setting the narrative. CAG report had to be presented. Our former chief minister Atishi had completed all the formalities, and she had submitted the CAG report to the Chairman," AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar was quoted as saying by ANI.
CAG’s report on excise policy referred to PAC
The Delhi Assembly on Thursday referred the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the Capital’s excise policy to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for examination.
It also directed the excise department to submit an action-taken report on the findings within a month.
The 165-page CAG report, tabled on February 25, flagged a revenue loss of ₹2,026.91 crore under the now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy, attributing it to a weak policy framework and deficient implementation.
