L-G working with ‘ulterior motive’ to malign Delhi govt, request him to stop putting hurdles in welfare works: Speaker Ram Niwas Goel

The Opposition BJP, meanwhile, alleged the session was “conducted in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner” and it was not allowed to raise issues of public interest since its members were expelled from the House on all four days.

“A preplanned conspiracy hatched by Dr A C Verma, principal secretary; and Mr Amit Singla, secretary, health department; in connivance with the chief secretary of Delhi at the behest of the L-G of Delhi created an atmosphere of fear to stall the social welfare schemes initiated by Delhi government,” Goel alleged.

Payment to doctors and staff of Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics and data entry operators in Delhi government hospitals, he alleged, “was deliberately delayed” till the completion of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections and a “conscious attempt was made to delay old age pension” to citizens, which was “very shameful”.

“I fail to understand why the Honourable L-G and chief secretary are working with malicious intent which is not in the public interest at all. After Vinai Kumar Saxena became the L-G of Delhi, he ordered inquiry into the legitimate welfare work and various schemes being implemented by the Delhi government in the field of education, health etc,” the Speaker alleged.

“I presently feel the Honourable L-G is working with an ulterior motive to malign the Delhi government. I would request, through this press conference, the Honourable L-G to behave gracefully and stop putting hurdles in the welfare works of the Delhi government, but rather cooperate to make Delhi the best capital (city) in (the) world,” he said.

The three interim reports related to welfare schemes, Goel said, revealed the principal secretary (finance) “under the tutelage of the chief secretary and the L-G” created hurdles in the release of payments observed in the re-invitation of tenders of the DEOs at the OPD counters of Delhi government hospitals, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), social welfare department delaying pensions of widows and old-age people, the pension of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) personnel and the salaries of bus marshals among others.

“This is not a constructive but rather an obstructive attitude to stop the working of the Delhi government, which is making all efforts to improve the living conditions of the residents of Delhi,” he alleged.

“My committee of petitions has been forced to request the President of India and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to take cognisance of its reports and take appropriate action against the chief secretary and the Lieutenant Governor. This is unprecedented in the history of governance of Delhi,” he added.

Meanwhile, BJP MLAs alleged that the Delhi government was “running the assembly in an unconstitutional and undemocratic manner” and “rules were being flouted openly to strangle the Opposition.”

Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and the other BJP MLAs expressed disappointment and anger at a joint press conference over the behaviour meted out to it during the four-day session.

“When the Opposition demanded or tried to discuss the problems of the people, it was thrown out of the house. BJP members were marshalled out on all four days, which is the biggest example of running the House in a dictatorial and arbitrary manner,” Bidhuri alleged.

“The people of Delhi are forced to breathe poisonous air but this issue was not allowed to be discussed in the Assembly. When an attempt was made to discuss the thousands of crores of liquor scam, education scam, DTC bus scam and DJB scam, the government had no answer to them,” he said.

Two bills passed in Assembly

Speaker Goel noted that the first sitting of the session was “a day of pandemonium” due to the “undisciplined and indecent behaviour” of the members in the House, no business could be taken up on January 16

According to Goel, 39 matters of special mention under Rule 280 were allowed during the session and eight papers from different departments, including the Delhi Technological University, Netaji Subhas University, power companies, Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission and the DJB, were laid on the table.

The House passed two bills — The Delhi Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Delhi Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2023; in addition to these, the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for the financial sector was presented, considered demand-wise and passed.

The Delhi government, according to the Speaker, made additional supplementary grants to the tune of Rs 1,211.97 crore to the social welfare department as further assistance to welfare schemes like old-age pensions, scholarships and widow pensions.

Similarly, additional/supplementary grants of Rs 220.83 crore to the education department, Rs 99.14 crore for medical and public health, Rs 706.20 crore for the development department and Rs 84.63 crore for the industries department were provided, he said.

The government, he added, allotted an additional grant of Rs 377.84 crore for urban development and public works like improving road infrastructure. A total of Rs 3,139.17 crore had been granted in form of supplementary demands to various departments for 2022-23 to “enhance the infrastructure” in Delhi, he said.