Delhi L-G raises concern over inordinate delay in govt's hospital projects

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and alleged that the Delhi government's claims about a revolution in the health sector are false and hospital projects are running late by years.

In the four-page letter, Delhi LG wrote, "I seek to draw your attention towards recent reports in the Media, with regards to inordinately delayed Hospital projects, that are running late and behind schedule by years against their stipulated time of completion. It is indeed a matter of grave concern for Delhi - also the National Capital of India, where even as the population grows exponentially, something as basic as the addition of beds and blocks to even existing hospitals is lagging behind for unfathomable reasons."

"The augmentation of beds in 17 Hospitals and the construction of one new Hospital would have resulted in about 12,500 additional beds for the people of Delhi. The projects for many of these Hospitals, announced with much fanfare way back in 2014 and 2019, with projected completion dates ranging from 2017 to 2020, if completed on time, would have come to the rescue of thousands of Delhi residents, who suffered on account of non-availability of beds during the COVID Pandemic," he stated in the letter.

He further said, "Leave apart the construction of the only new hospital at Siraspur, which is running behind schedule by a year, even the addition of beds in existing hospitals like Lok Nayak, Guru Gobind Singh, Dr BS Ambedkar, Rao Tula Ram and Aruna Asaf Ali is delayed by up to or more than three years."

"In the case of the ambitious Indira Gandhi Hospital, works for which started way back in 2012-13, full completion is yet to be achieved despite 10 years having passed. It is unfortunate that works at the existing Bhagwan Mahavir, Aruna Asaf Ail and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospitals, which were started in 2019 and were slated to be completed by 2020, remain held up with no fixed dates of completion even after three years," he mentioned.

The LG claimed that work under former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's tenure was much better in the health sector.

"It would be educative to underline here that your predecessor regime headed by late Smt. Sheila Dikshit, was able to achieve much more in terms of creating hospitals and other infrastructure, even as their total ad spend during the five years of 2009-10 to 2013-14, amounted to a meagre Rs 87.5 crores that are averaging at Rs 1.45 crores/month or Rs4.80 lakh/day, as against your expenditure of Rs 1.12 crores per day on advertisements," LG said in the letter.

He further said, the performance of a Government or any entity is and should be determined by the actual work done by it on the ground and not on the basis of the advertisements, press releases and Twitter posts that it issues.

"I am but, pained to say that Governments are run on well-established principles of governance and public delivery rather than propaganda posturings-something that seems to have become the norm as far as GNCTD is concerned," he mentioned.

"I fail to understand how a Government that spent Rs. 1867.44 Cr., in advertising at DAVP rates during the corresponding period of the last five years that is between 2019 to 2023 (including two years of severe pandemic distress) at an average of Rs 31.12 crore/month or Rs. 1.12 crore/day, and one that pays Rs 30 Lakh per month (Rs 1 Lakh per day) to an agency for issuing press releases alone, can hide behind the fig leaf alibi of not completing health and hospital projects due to paucity of just Rs 600 crore I am also informed that the above-mentioned amount of Rs 1867.44 crore may not include the advertisements issued by Boards/Corporations/Universities/Autonomous Bodies of GNCTD, at commercial rates.

He further said, "I have written to you as the Constitutional head of the State with the intention of inviting your attention towards governance aimed at the welfare of the people of Delhi and hope that you wil earnestly look into the same.