"No Toilets In 21 AAP Mohalla Clinics, Covid Fund Unused": CAG Report

A review of the medical infrastructure in Delhi indicates under-utilisation of funds provided by the centre during the COVID crisis, a severe shortage of staff, and long waiting times for major surgeries, the Comptroller and Auditor-General said in a report tabled in the Assembly Friday.

The seven-page CAG report - one of over a dozen the ruling BJP has vowed to present in the House, as proof of corruption by predecessors AAP - also pointed out the "dire condition" of 'mohalla', or neighbourhood, clinics, which were a flagship measure of the earlier government.

The CAG slammed these and other failings - such as not having enough doctors and nurses, the lack of funding for maternal health programmes, ambulances without key equipment, and the absence of ICUs - as "deliberate inaction towards a severe shortage of medical infrastructure..."

What Does CAG Report Say

The report begins by stating the AAP government used Rs 582.84 of the Rs 787.91 crore released by the centre during the COVID pandemic. The unused amount included Rs 30.52 crore for human resources, indicating 'under-payment to, and lower deployment of, staff'.

An additional Rs 119.95 crore had been released for medicines and medical supplies, including PPE, or personal protective equipment, which was a critical requirement for doctors and nurses treating COVID patients. A widespread shortage of PPEs was reported during the pandemic.

Of this amount only Rs 83.14 crore was used, the CAG report said.

'Not Enough Beds, Staff'

The report also said the AAP government failed to utilise the budget to increase hospital beds; from 2016/17 to 2020/21 budget provisions were made for 32,000 but only 1,357 were added.

Occupancy was between a staggering 101 per cent and 189 per cent, the CAG said.

The lack of beds was matched by a "significant shortage of manpower in the public health sector", the report said, claiming a shortfall of over 2,000 staff between five institutions alone, including the Lok Nayak Hospital, and the Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, a pediatric hospital.

In two others - the Janakpuri and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospitals - there is a 50 per cent shortage of doctors, 73 per cent nursing staff, and at least 17 per cent paramedics.

There is also non-availability of specialist doctors at the trauma centre in Lok Nayak.

'Waiting Times For Surgeries'

Patients requiring major surgery- specifically relating to burn injuries have to wait for at least six months at Lok Nayak. Patients at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya have to wait for 12 months.

Linked to that, the CAG report said also 14 of 27 hospitals audited did not have an ICU, or intensive care unit, 16 did not have blood banks, and 12 did not have ambulances.

'No Toilets In Mohalla Clinics'

The CAG was also critical of the earlier AAP government's flagship 'mohalla' clinics initiative, saying 21 did not have bathrooms, 15 had no power back-up, and 12 were not disabled-friendly.

BJP vs AAP On Auditors' Reports

The report is expected to be presented post 2 pm, and there will almost certainly be chaos in the House as the under-fire AAP MLAs respond. The opening days of this Assembly session - the first after the BJP's thumping win in the election this month - have already see pitched battles.

READ | "Injustice To Opposition": Atishi On AAP MLAs' Suspension

Ahead of the session today, AAP leaders sat outside the Assembly to protest the suspension of 21 lawmakers earlier this week. Ex-Chief Minister Atishi, now Leader of the Opposition, wrote to Speaker Vijender Gupta to flag the "severe blow to democratic values".

On Tuesday, when the report into the alleged liquor excise policy scam - in connection with which AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal was jailed last year - there was a rumpus after opposition MLAs countered by protesting the repositioning of photos in the Chief Minister's office.