Sheila slams Shunglu report,says intent to slander clear

Countering the charge of inactivity between 2003 and 2006,the government wondered who stood to benefit from this delay.

“Considering that election is always an unpredictable phenomenon for any elected government without any certainty of resumption of power,if the re-election of the ruling party was not certain,then was the delay done to benefit another government — possibly to the Opposition,” the report stated.

The report claimed that no senior officer or engineer working in 2002-03 could have been present in Delhi during 2008-10. “It skips comprehension as to who would be the probable conspirator of this delay,certain of ‘sharing the booty’ after a lapse of 8 years,” the report stated.

The government attributed the initial delay to ‘budgetary constraints’ in planning projects.

But in its attempt to hit back at the committee,the government put its own former Finance Minister A K Walia in a spot: The Chief Minister “faced with conflicting versions by the subject Ministers and the Finance Minister… reluctantly took the initiative (despite being already very overburdened) of heading the EFC (Expenditure Finance Committee) for timely clearance of a limited number of CWG projects.”

The government has set up a three-member committee,comprising Delhi Jal Board CEO Ramesh Negi,Environment Secretary Dharmendra and Divisional Commissioner D M Sapolia,to prepare a detailed reply to the committee report. Dikshit has already hinted that her government would give a para-by-para response.