L g tried to stop old age pension mohalla clinics house panel

L g tried to stop old age pension mohalla clinics house panel

AAP MLAs enter Assembly well, demand suspension of Chief Secretary and other top officials for 'sabotaging work at Saxena's behest.

The Committee on Petitions of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday tabled two reports in the House that allege Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena, with the help of senior bureaucrats, tried to derail social welfare and healthcare services in the Capital ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections held on December 4 last year.

On the fourth day of the Assembly's winter session, AAP MLAs entered the well of the House and also staged a protest outside the Assembly demanding the suspension of the Chief Secretary, the Health Secretary and the Finance Secretary for "sabotaging" works of the Delhi government at the behest of the LG. The L-G House, however, did not comment on the issue till the filing of this report. The three-day Assembly session was extended by a day (Thursday) by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel amid pandemonium on Wednesday that led to the adjournment of the House.

The Delhi government and the L-G are embroiled in a tussle over the bureaucracy, with AAP alleging that senior officials were not cooperating with the elected government under orders from the L-G office. The AAP government and the Centre are also fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court over who controls the bureaucracy in Delhi.

'Impeding work'

A day before, the petitions panel had presented a report — 'Sabotaging the Functioning of OPD counters in Delhi Government Hospitals at the Behest of the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor Of Delhi' — in the House and alleged that the delay caused by the Finance Department in inviting tenders had resulted in abject chaos at hospitals, and demanded the suspension of the top officials.

According to the first report — 'Abrupt Stoppage of Pensions of Old Age Citizens in Delhi at the Behest of Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor Of Delhi' — presented before the House on Thursday, old age pensions for many beneficiaries were discontinued by the Social Welfare Department without providing sound reasons.

The other report — 'Conspiracy of Officials to Sabotage the Functioning of Mohalla Clinics at the Behest of Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor of Delhi' — said Mohalla Clinics were unable to function due to unavailability of medicines and diagnostic tests, and the staff were not paid their due remunerations.

While tabling the report, panel member and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said junior officers, under confidentiality agreement, had opened up about the atmosphere of fear created by the Chief Secretary, and admitted that the L-G gave direct orders to impede work.