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Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Why among action against its leaders, the case against Saurabh Bharadwaj will hurt poll-hit AAP
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has faced another setback as the BJP-led Delhi government's Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) has sought permission from the Centre to initiate an inquiry against AAP leaders and ex-health ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain for their alleged involvement in irregularities in the construction of 24 hospitals worth Rs 5,590 crore sanctioned during 2018-19 in the national capital. According to officials, the DoV sought permission from the BJP-led central government to probe Bharadwaj and Jain – who had been ministers in the previous AAP-led Delhi government – under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has claimed that it has 'prima facie' found evidence of cost inflation, delays, and misallocation of funds in the sanction and construction of 24 hospitals across the city. While several senior AAP leaders, including ex-Delhi chief minister Kejriwal and ex-deputy CM Manish Sisodia, have been facing corruption charges in connection with the Delhi liquor policy 'scam', this is the first time that Bharadwaj has been accused of corruption by an agency. Unlike Jain, who has been facing multiple graft cases being probed by various central agencies – and has also served jail for a long time after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in 2022 – Bharadwaj has until now enjoyed a clean image, who has been known as a 'media-savvy AAP troubleshooter' and a 'policy-focused leader' in the AAP circles. The Delhi government's move against Bharadwaj in an alleged graft case also puts a break to the slight momentum the AAP seemed to have gathered after its debacle in the Delhi Assembly polls earlier this year. The polls saw the AAP losing power to the BJP after three consecutive stints at the helm of the Delhi government, getting just 22 seats out of 70 as against the BJP's 48. After facing the loss, Kejriwal carried out a major reshuffle of the party office-bearers. Sisodia was named as the AAP's Punjab in-charge, while Jain was appointed the party's Punjab's co-incharge. Currently, Punjab is the only state where the AAP is in power. Bharadwaj was appointed the Delhi AAP president. With the AAP being the principal Opposition in Delhi now, Bharadwaj's task is cut out as he has been trying to rally the party workers and galvanise them in order to take on the BJP government effectively. With Bharadwaj facing a corruption probe, however, the morale of the Delhi AAP's rank and file is likely to be dampened further. And with Jain staring at a fresh case of alleged corruption, the Punjab AAP may also face heat as it gears up for the next Assembly elections slated for early 2027. The complaint in the alleged hospital construction scam was lodged by BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, who is currently Delhi Assembly Speaker, with the ACB in August 2024, accusing the then AAP government of allegedly indulging in irregularities in 24 hospital projects through 'deliberate delays' and 'inflated costs'. In his complaint, Gupta flagged consistent patterns of financial misconduct, alleging 'inflation of the project costs, deliberate delays by departments, rejection of cost-effective solutions, misallocation of funds, and creation of idle assets' that led, he charged, to a massive loss to the government exchequer. The ACB sent its report to the DoV in January this year. The ACB serves as the primary investigative unit of the state Vigilance department and reports to it. The DoV has now sought permission for a sanction from the President to enable the ACB probe against Bharadwaj and Jain in the case. It would spell further trouble for the AAP if the Centre gives its go-ahead to the Vigilance department. The AAP has rejected corruption allegations against both its leaders in the case as false. The party has maintained that these hospital projects were necessary to boost health infrastructure in Delhi, claiming that they paid off during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the pandemic broke out in 2020, seven of these hospitals were supposed to set up about 7,000 ICU beds to deal with the heavy inflow of patients. However, none has been completed so far. 'Projections in 2020 suggested Delhi would need 80,000 beds, including ICU capacity. The government mobilised its limited resources accordingly. Once the (Covid) threat subsided, priorities changed,' the AAP said in a statement. The AAP claimed that 'no revised file' with the inflated costs had reached the ministers, and blamed the BJP-led Centre for allegedly 'withholding' funds and 'weaponising' investigative agencies. AAP leaders see the Delhi government's move as part of a 'larger pattern of sustained institutional pressure on AAP', especially after the arrest of key leaders including Kejriwal and Sisodia, who have been out on bail now. 'Deadline shifts and cost increases are common in government projects across departments… Rather than accusing us of corruption, the BJP should carry out an inquiry at the bureaucratic level,' Bharadwaj told The Indian Express.
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘CVC Report Kept Under Wraps For 3 Yrs'
New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Bureau 's action on the construction of classrooms in the capital comes in the wake of a report by the chief technical examiner of the Central Vigilance Commission besides the enquiry carried out by the agency and the department of vigilance (DoV), sources said. The CVC's report pointed out several anomalies in the classroom construction project, but it was kept under wraps for about three years, said Madhur Verma, joint commissioner of police and ACB chief, on Wednesday. "During enquiry, it was found that the examination report of the chief technical examiner, CVC, in the matter was issued on Feb 17, 2020, with the approval of the competent authority but it was suppressed for about three years," he said. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi In April 2015, then CM Arvind Kejriwal had directed construction of classrooms in govt schools. PWD was entrusted with the initial task of constructing 2,405 classrooms in 193 schools. It carried out a survey and projected a total requirement of 7,180 equivalent classrooms in 194 schools, almost three times the initial figure, sources said. It was decided that semi-permanent structures (SPS) would be cost effective for the project. The CVC report , however, observed that ultimately the actual cost of the SPS classrooms was more or less equal to the cost of permanent structures. Due to adoption of richer specifications, the construction cost of these classrooms almost matched the cost of pucca classrooms and apparently no financial benefit of adoption of SPS construction was achieved, the report concluded. "The actual cost per sq ft … as worked out in the CVC report is Rs 2,292 per sq ft against the cost of pucca structure model schools @ Rs 2,044-2,416 per sq ft," the report says. ACB also observed that contracts were awarded after the tenders for work worth Rs 860.6 crore. However, contract values eventually escalated by 17-90% due to richer specifications. "The escalation amounted to Rs 326.2 crore, of which Rs 205.4 crore was attributable to richer specifications, comprising 23.8% of the award value," Verma said. Contrary to CVC guidelines, no fresh tenders were invited to reflect these changes. Additionally, construction work worth Rs 42.5 crore was executed in five of the schools without proper tenders and under existing contracts, the investigation of CVC and ACB revealed. Verma said, "The report of CTE/CVC flagged violations of various clauses of the CPWD Works Manual 2014, GFR 2017, CVC guidelines and other irregularities and alleged that various decisions taken after the award of tenders were not in accordance with the guidelines of CVC and other manuals, resulting in financial loss," Verma said. ACB has communicated its findings to DoV, which has examined the probe report and observed that the construction cost of classrooms in different zones and districts of the education department was revised despite the expenditure and finance committee's clear instructions in its first meeting in Oct 2015 that no change would be considered in future. DoV also said that the construction was not completed within the prescribed deadline of June 2016 and in some cases, general financial rules were not followed, thus giving undue advantage to contractors. The vigilance directorate has recommended "fixing responsibilities" of the officials concerned in PWD and the education department.
