The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. During this period, action was also taken at about a dozen other locations in the capital. The ED is conducting this raid in the case related to the hospital construction scam.
In fact, in 2018-19, 24 hospital projects were approved during the AAP government, including 11 Greenfield and 13 Brownfield Hospitals. The cost of these projects was fixed at Rs 5,590 crore. According to the plan, ICU hospitals were to be prepared within six months, but even after three years, the work remained incomplete. The shocking thing is that about 50 percent of the amount was also spent during this period.
An investigation by the Anti -Corruption Branch (ACB) found that there have been huge disturbances in these hospital projects. Construction work was started without acceptance at many places, while the role of contractors was also found suspicious. The ACB report stated that ‘unfair delays’ and ‘excessive increase in costs’ in these projects indicate large -scale financial disturbances.
For example, the project cost of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital increased from Rs 488 crore to Rs 1,135 crore, but despite this no concrete progress was seen on the ground. Similarly, allegations of deliberately avoided the hospital information management system (HIMS), which was to be implemented in 2016.
The ED has registered a case on the basis of ACB’s FIR. The ED suspects that there has been a large -scale financial disturbance in this entire process and its benefits were transported to others including Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Now the matter is in the hands of the Enforcement Directorate, and the agency is investigating the financial irregularities related to hospital construction, misuse of money and political-administrative collusion.
This raid has once again raised serious questions on the AAP government and there has been a stir in political circles. While the opposition has described it as “proof of corruption”, the AAP party has called it a “political conspiracy”. In the coming days, the investigation of ED will prove to be important in opening the layers of this scam.
