Amid an escalating war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the municipal election, AAP MLA Atishi alleged that over 17 years, the BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has spent ₹35 crore on the construction of a hospital but has still not completed it.
“In 2005, Poornima Sethi Hospital was sanctioned at a cost of ₹6.70 crore in Kalkaji. Till date, BJP has spent ₹35 crore on it but the hospital is still incomplete. BJP promised a multi-speciality hospital but it has completely failed at delivering one. On one hand, the Kejriwal government is building world-class hospitals and mohalla clinics, on the other, the BJP is failing at even building one hospital. Delhiites have decided they now want the Kejriwal model in MCD too,” Atishi said.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor dismissed the allegations as unfounded and baseless. “Atishi has spoken without verifying facts. The ₹6.5 crore amount she quoted as the hospital budget was actually the budget of the building construction while the remaining amount was spent on electrification and procurement of medical equipment. The construction of the hospital got delayed as Kejriwal government withheld sanction of recruitment of staff for the hospital,” said Kapoor.
The MCD, in a statement, also refuted Atishi’s charge and said, “Operation of the hospital is pending due to non-completion of few essential works; ₹13 crore required for it has not been released by Delhi government. A polyclinic with specialist services, day care centre, dialysis centre, physiotherapy centre, mother and child welfare centre, lab services, etc. has been running for last 6-7 years in the hospital building.”