L-G trying to act against Vidhan Sabha committees, says Saurabh Bharadwaj

New Delhi: The AAP on Monday alleged that Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena is trying to “act” against Vidhan Sabha committees and has written to the chief secretary and the assembly seeking details on their functioning.

Party national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told a press conference that the Petitions Committee of the Delhi assembly had recommended action against officials on three different issues. But the Lt Governor (LG), instead of taking action against them, decided to take action against the committees, he alleged.

“The Delhi L-G is trying to act against Vidhan Sabha committees. He has written to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and the Delhi Vidhan Sabha questioning how the committees are functioning and whether they are going against the law,” the AAP said.

“He feels that they are interfering in the work of government officials. The L-G has problems with the committees. This makes it clear that whatever the officials do to interfere in the functioning of the government is done at the behest of the L-G,” he alleged.

Citing instances where the Petitions Committee of the Delhi assembly intervened, Bharadwaj said that the committee had taken up the matter of sacking of OPD (outdoor-patient department) employees in state-run hospitals.

“OPD employees working for months were sacked, leaving the counters empty. During the Petitions Committee hearing, it was found that two IAS officers were deliberately sitting on files and when the committee intervened, those issues were resolved,” he said.

“The committee had recommended to the L-G to take action against Health Secretary Amit Singla and Principal Secretary, Finance, AC Verma but nothing was done,” Bharadwaj claimed.

He said that Singla and Verma were also found to be involved in stopping salaries of doctors employed in Mohalla Clinics. “Despite having crores of rupees in its (mohalla clnincs’ dedicated) account, mohalla clinics were unable to disburse salaries of doctors and money was stopped for conducting tests. It was found by the committee that Singla and Verma were involved in too,” he said.