Focus on law and order: Health Min Saurabh Bhardwaj responds to L-G Saxena

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Responding to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's letter over the delay in the construction of hospitals, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, submitting factual data over the same.

Earlier on Thursday, LG Saxena wrote to CM 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.

Responding to this, Bhardwaj, in a letter to Kejriwal, said, "It is unfortunate that LG without confirming the factual history and the current status of these projects has accused that if the construction of these hospitals would have been completed and would have been functional, their beds would have been used during COVID pandemic."

"It would have been prudent for Hon'ble Lt. Governor to have discussed the matter with the undersigned prior to levelling such baseless allegations which do not suit the stature of the office of Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor. I would have been more than happy to explain to him the current status and the challenges being faced. It is also pertinent to mention that I had called a meeting to review the status of these projects on June 16, 2023, for which the meeting notice was issued on June 13, 2023. It is a strange coincidence that news was published regarding 'Hospital Projects' in newspapers on the day of the meeting i.e. June 16, 2023, with all the data. It is needless to say that some are doing overtime to create forums for the Hon'ble LG to write such letters," he said in his letter.

Bharadwaj said that the officers had misinformed LG Saxena about the factual condition.

"I will be more than willing to explain the original plan was to construct 8 floors in the new hospitals. However, after the precedence of permissions to AIIMS, the plan was upgraded to construct 10 floors. Obviously, these decisions are followed by consecutive changes in the plans, building design and architectural drawings. This involves many administrative processes," he added.

Notably, the minister hit out at the LG over increasing crime in the city and said that people are expecting him to focus on his constitutional duties which are primarily to handle the law and order of the state of Delhi.