Six weeks before Delhi state goes to polls, the Congress claims that its six ministers have shown exemplary achievements, while the BJP is flaying them for poor performance. The Sunday Standard brings you the claims and counter-claims.
Education: Arvinder Singh Lovely and Kiran Walia
BJP charge: Delhi University (DU) has around 4,000 vacant positions of permanent teachers since 2007. Congress’s claim that 74,000 children benefitted from Education Guarantee Scheme is highly suspect. There is a scam of `10 crore in purchase of computer for government schools. About 80 government schools have been shut down even as the population is increasing 4-5 lakh every year; about 12,000 positions are lying vacant in Delhi schools. Teacher-student ratio in government schools in 1:80-100 as opposed to 1:30 as per RTE norm. No new college in DU in the last 15 years.
Congress defence: Under the BJP rule, `866 crore was allocated for education while the Congress government spent `5,912 crore on it in 2012-13 alone. The number of school students increased from 8 lakh to 16 lakh in the same period; 25,000 economically weaker section students were admitted to private schools under RTE. While BJP merely set up the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, it is the Congress government which initiated educational courses. During the Congress rule, 15 sports complexes, 14 swimming pools and 140 sports coaching centre were opened.
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Health: Ashok Kumar Walia
BJP charge: Delay in construction of hospitals. As per CAG report, the health department’s ambulances are used for commuting doctors; they are not equipped with basic life support system and first aid boxes. At Ambedkar Hospital, CAG found that 47 essential drugs were not available on many occasions during a period between 2009 and 2012; many essential drugs were also not available in several prominent hospitals. Almost all the hospitals lack clean drinking water facility. More than 70 per cent of schoolchildren were found to be anaemic. About 10,000 infants die in hospitals every year.
Congress defence: Since 1998, when the Congress came to power, dispensaries have increased from 179 to 543, hospitals from 18 to 39, beds from 24,000 to 44,000, specialty hospitals from five to 10, blood banks from 40 to 65, and health budget has gone up from `331 crore to `3,388 crore. In 1998, the Delhi government had 443 doctors on its rolls, which has increased to 2,291 in 2013.
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Power: Haroon Yusuf
BJP charge: There has been over 72 per cent hike in tariff over the last two years. The meters installed by private companies bill three times more, costing `2,000 crore extra to consumers. The Delhi Government gives an overall annual subsidy of `3,450 crore to power companies. A `5,000-crore scam was run by Delhi government in the name of providing electricity to CWG village. Power tariff was increased by 23 per cent in 2011 and 32 per cent in 2012. CAG unearthed a `12,000-crore scam in privatisation process.
Congress defence: Congress brought Delhi out of the ‘Dark Age’ of 1998 when the state was suffering from hours of power-cuts. Delhi gets 24-hour uninterrupted power supply in 2013. The party’s performance is visible as the sale of inverters has decreased by 23 per cent and the per capita consumption of power has increased from 1,170 units in 1997 to 1,651 units in 2013. Under the Congress rule, losses due to power thefts have reduced to around 17 per cent. Delhi has one of the cheapest power tariffs in India.
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Transport: Ramakant Goswami
BJP charge: Delhi has 5,000 buses whereas the requirement is of 11,000 buses. The Delhi Transport Corporation has suffered losses amounting to `2,335 crore. Low-floor bus purchase scam is worth `130 crore. There is a multi-crore corruption in the award of contract to the company named ESP for setting up vehicle inspection lanes at Delhi Transport Authority’s Burari office.
Congress defence: A total of 5,900 DTC buses ply on Delhi’s roads at present compared to 3,131 old dilapidated buses during the BJP rule in 1998. Delhi government smoothly manages the world’s largest ever transition from diesel buses to CNG buses. Due to efficient public transport, over 2.2 million people travel by the Delhi Metro every day. Delhi has got 2,100 new bus shelters and 600 buses under cluster bus scheme. The party claims credit for withdrawing services of blue line buses which were causing high number of accidents.
Public Works Department: Raj Kumar Chauhan
BJP charge: A probe needs to be carried out as to why the cost of Signature bridge, being built over the Yamuna river, has increased from `459 to `1,100 crore. Even though Delhi Government took over all 673, 60 ft wide roads from MCD claiming poor maintenance, it has failed to make any difference. The government has announced to have strengthened these roads at a cost of `1,800 crore but water-logging continues there.
Congress defence: The Delhi government has been successful in constructing 66 new flyovers, 29 subways, 67 foot over-bridges in its 15-year rule. When the Congress came to power in 1998, Delhi had merely nine flyovers. Major projects undertaken by the Congress government—the road over Barapullah nullah, Salim Garh road, Dhaula Kuan and Madhuban Chowk crossing flyovers—have eased the traffic situation.