New Delhi, 06 July (H.S.): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday staged a protest outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in the national capital over the alleged Rs 650-crore drug procurement scam in the Delhi Health Department. The demonstration was led by Delhi AAP President Saurabh Bharadwaj and attended by Burari MLA and party spokesperson Sanjeev Jha, along with MLA Kuldeep Kumar.
Addressing the gathering, Bharadwaj alleged that the alleged scam's mastermind was Rajeev Rangeela. He claimed that although the alleged scam amounted to Rs 650 crore, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) had allowed the main accused to evade arrest a month ago and was instead making arrests of lower-level individuals to create the impression of action.
Bharadwaj said AAP leaders had been consistently addressing the media and demanding the arrest of Rajeev Rangeela. He questioned why the Delhi government had not taken action against the official allegedly responsible for the purported scam and said the people of Delhi deserved an explanation.
He also raised questions over the appointment of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Vatsala Aggarwal, alleging that she was appointed to the post by overlooking established rules and bypassing senior officials. Bharadwaj asked whether Dr Aggarwal had been appointed as DGHS during the tenure of the present government led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
Alleging irregularities in the procurement system, Bharadwaj claimed that government hospitals were previously allowed to purchase medicines according to their requirements, but the procurement rules were later changed. He alleged that hospitals were no longer permitted to make independent purchases and that all procurement responsibilities had been centralised under the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) headed by Dr Aggarwal.
Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha also accused the government of large-scale irregularities in medicine procurement. Referring to the ACB's findings, he alleged that while procurement worth Rs 400 crore was shown on official records, medicines worth only Rs 100 crore were actually purchased, resulting in the alleged embezzlement of Rs 300 crore.
Jha further claimed that LNJP Hospital was facing an acute shortage of medicines, with damaged hospital beds and insufficient accommodation for patients. He questioned why, despite the ACB registering an FIR, no contractor had been arrested in connection with the alleged scam.
The Aam Aadmi Party demanded an independent and impartial investigation into the alleged irregularities, strict action against those found responsible, and the public disclosure of the findings related to the alleged discrepancies in the medicine procurement process.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
