New Delhi: Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday accused the BJP-led civic body of being involved in a Rs 35-crore scam in the construction of a hospital, a charge denied by the municipality as "malicious" and "false".
The BJP has been in power in the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD) -- trifurcated in 2012 and then unified this year -- for three straight terms. The high-stakes civic polls on December 4 is largely being seen as a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress.
The Purnima Sethi Hospital was sanctioned in 2005 at a cost of Rs 6.70 crore and till date, the BJP has spent Rs 35 crore on it but the hospital is still incomplete, senior AAP leader and MLA Atishi claimed.
"The BJP promised a multi-speciality hospital but it has completely failed at doing so. On one hand the (Arvind) Kejriwal government is building world-class hospitals and mohalla clinics, on the other BJP is failing at even building one hospital. Delhiites have decided, they now want the Kejriwal model in the MCD too," she said.
She said the hospital was meant to be a multi-speciality facility with 100 beds. "The total cost of constructing this hospital was to be Rs 6.70 crore. It is 2022 now, and yet the construction of this hospital has not been completed," Atishi said.
She claimed that even after spending such an amount, just the ground floor and the first floor of the hospital is functional. The rest of the hospital is not yet ready. The multi-speciality services that were to be given by this hospital to the people of Kalkaji and Delhi have not yet started, the AAP leader said.
In a statement, the MCD denied the charges calling them "malicious" and "false".
"The Kalkaji Colony Hospital (subsequently named as Poornima Sethi Multi-specialty Hospital) was originally envisaged to be constructed as five-storied with one basement (floor area 9,371 sqm). With implementation of the Master Plan 2021, it was decided to avail the relaxed norms of FAR and height of the building," it said.
The proposal was revised for a eight-storied building with two basements with a total floor area of 24,852 sqm, the statement said.
"The original sanctioned cost was Rs 20.17 crore and not Rs 6.70 crore as falsely claimed, and this original cost was revised to Rs 52.25 crore as there was expansion of nearly three times in the covered area of the building," it said.
The hospital building is largely complete but final works could not be finished due to non-allocation of funds under the medical (plan) sector by the Delhi government. This has stalled the execution of pending works such as internal and external electrification, air-conditioning, lifts, sewage treatment plant, and fire fighting and fire control.
"The proposal to take up the balance works amounting to Rs 13 crore is ready since the last two years but due to non-availability of funds these essential works are yet to be taken up for making the entire building fully operational," the civic body said.
It said that the hospital has been operating for the last six to seven years and providing quality medical facilities by running polyclinic with specialist services such as those in the medicine, gynaecology, eye, ENT, pediatrics and dental department, it said.
The erstwhile MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit's tenure as the chief minister. The reunified MCD had formally come into existence on May 22 with IAS officers Ashwani Kumar and Gyanesh Bharti assuming charge as the new civic body's special officer and commissioner, respectively.
In the civic election in 2017, the BJP had won 181 of the 270 wards. No polling could be held on two seats due to death of candidates. The AAP had won 48 wards and the Congress 27.
Several BJP leaders expressed confidence that the saffron party would win the civic polls for the fourth time in a row.
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