NEW DELHI: AAP chief spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-ruled municipal corporations of Delhi have not even spent half of the funds they had received from the
Kejriwal-led Delhi government to bring the dengue menace under control.
Bhardwaj stated that the Kejriwal government had paid Rs 221.56 crore to the municipal corporations for the anti-Dengue-Malaria drive in the last five years. However, the corporations had spent only Rs 141.45 crores.
“The BJP is playing with the lives of poor children of Delhi to gain political mileage. It is deliberately not taking action against dengue by lying about not having funds. The Delhi High Court has been constantly asking the BJP leaders to wake up from their slumber of royal arrogance. It has rejected all reports submitted by MCD on dengue control,” alleged Bhardwaj.
Talking about the alleged negligence and apathetic attitude of the BJP, Bhardwaj said, “The primary healthcare and public healthcare directly come under the municipal corporation. Be it running dispensaries, checking dengue, malaria, and chikungunya, the appointment of mosquito breeding checkers, fogging and other activities, the corporation is directly responsible for them.”
Bhardwaj said that on December 2, the High Court had pulled up the municipal corporations and had commented that the civic administration seemed to have completely got paralysed.
On December 24, the High Court rejected every single report submitted by the corporations and severely reprimanded the three BJP-controlled corporations saying that MCD was taking action only on papers.
He added that in 2017-2018, they had been allotted Rs 42.5 crores, yet the municipal corporations had only spent Rs 30.77 crores.
“The unused 11 crores were left with them only,” he alleged.
Continuing his attack, Bhardwaj claimed that in 2018-2019, the Delhi Government had paid the corporations Rs 44.5 crores, and they again had spent just Rs 23.2 crores of it.