Viksit Delhi Budget to have suggestions from every section of society: CM Rekha Gupta

"Every department under their government was in shambles and needed treatment. The 'mohalla clinics' became a den of corruption, with no doctors, no medicines, and no patients," Ms Gupta said.

Alleging that the hospitals lacked essential staff, the chief minister said that 2,186 nursing positions remain unfilled and that expensive medical equipment is gathering dust in warehouses instead of being used in ICUs and CCUs. "Fake patients were recorded in the mohalla clinics, fraudulent medical tests were conducted, payments were manipulated, and many hospitals were shut down. There was a scam in hospital cleaning contracts as well," she said.

Ms Gupta said several discrepancies were raised in the report. It has now been sent to the PAC, which will submit its findings within three months. Additionally, the Assembly Secretariat would forward the report to the health department, which must provide an action-taken report within a month.

Continuing the attack on the previous AAP government, Delhi minister Dr Pankaj Singh alleged that it had failed to ensure quality checks on food provided in hospitals and forced people to migrate from the city due to its policies. The minister claimed that the AAP government had neglected medicine procurement, purchased drugs from blacklisted companies — including expired medicines — and failed to assess the need for new hospital beds.

“While people were struggling for oxygen, they were busy building palatial residences. Instead of providing proper healthcare, they allowed financial losses by procuring hospital medicines from local shops,” he said.

Mr Singh also claimed that the previous government failed to conduct quality checks on the food provided to patients. "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has collapsed the health system in Delhi. When people were struggling for oxygen cylinders during the pandemic, they were busy building sheesh mahal," he said.

“Additionally, severe irregularities were reported in the procurement and distribution of medicines. Critical vaccines, including those for Haemophilia and Rabies, were unavailable, and medicines were allegedly procured from blacklisted companies,” said the health minister.

He also lambasted the previous government for the lapse of `787 crore in Central government funds, which were allocated for upgrading healthcare services and constructing four major hospitals — Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP), Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital, and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya.

"The previous government failed to utilise funds allocated for developing Integrated Health Societies,” the minister, adding, the APP government failed to fulfil its promise of adding 10,000 hospital beds in 2016-17. "By 2021, only 1,357 beds had been added, exposing the inefficiency of the previous administration," he said.

The minister also said the AAP government colluded with private hospitals to deny free treatment to economically weaker section patients.

The last day of the first session of the newly-constituted Delhi Assembly saw dramatic scenes during Ms Gupta's address, as AAP MLA Jarnail Singh was marshalled out for disrupting the proceedings. Mr Singh was marshalled out by the Speaker as he raised slogans over BJP's promise to pay `2,500 to women of Delhi after coming to power. The remaining AAP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, walked out after that.

Following his eviction, Leader of the Opposition Atishi and other AAP MLAs staged a walkout, accusing the BJP of focusing on attacking AAP instead of working for the people.

Atishi accused also the ruling BJP of hurling abuses at Arvind Kejriwal and her in the House and asked if it intended to spend its five-year term attacking AAP instead of working for the people.

“I am happy that the BJP is finally talking about the CAG report. In the last 15 to 20 years, I have never seen them show such faith in the CAG's findings. When the CAG report in Uttarakhand highlighted irregularities in the forest department's spending on iPhones, the BJP did not discuss it. Similarly, when the CAG report on the Dwarka Expressway revealed that a road approved at `19 crore per km was built at `250 crore per km, the BJP did not debate it either. But now, at least because of us, they are discussing it,” Atishi said.

Speaking in the House, AAP MLA Gopal Rai said the CAG report acknowledges that, among all state healthcare models in India, Delhi’s healthcare system ranked first. He said the CAG report on healthcare services presented in the House primarily consists of three parts. “The first part discusses the positive impact of healthcare services in the NCR on the people of Delhi. The second part highlights how vacancies in various hospitals were not filled, which affected the availability of healthcare services for Delhi’s residents. The third part covers the status of the expansion of new hospitals and beds in Delhi up to the year 2022,” he said.

In a separate development, Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta warned AAP MLA Jarnail Singh of breach of privilege action for posting a picture of the ongoing House session on X and asked him to remove the image. Mr Singh, the MLA from Tilak Nagar constituency, later expressed regret for his action. "It is being seen for the first time in Delhi Assembly that House discussion was going on without the (presence of) ministers. Who will give a reply on behalf of the government," Mr Singh said in his post while sharing a photo of the House sitting.