CM hails Modi govt’s support during Covid

New Delhi: Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday hailed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s support during the Covid-19 pandemic and said that the Centre stepped up when the previous government was “hiding”.

Addressing a press conference along with Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, Gupta said the Centre also helped the earlier governments but now that help is being recognised.

“Remember the COVID-19 time. Had the Centre government not been there, what would have happened? I cited data that said that only 97 families were provided COVID-19 compensation after losing their loved ones in Delhi. According to the Delhi government, only 97 people died during that time. But crematoriums were full of bodies. The Centre supported the people of Delhi at that time,” she said. Gupta said that the Centre provided free ration to nearly 80 lakh people at that time when the then-Delhi government was “hidden” behind closed doors. She alleged that the condition in which the people of Delhi spent their last 11 years was quite distressing in itself. The chief minister said that although the state government has health infrastructure in Delhi, the health infrastructure of the central government is much larger.

“Today, AIIMS alone conducts around five lakh OPD visits annually linked to Delhi, which reduces the burden on hospitals here. Corruption in the health sector was rampant during the previous government, which has now been stopped, and 1,500 nurses have been permanently appointed to fill the infrastructural gaps caused by staff shortages,” she added.