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AAP flays L-G for medical staff crunch; BJP hits out at govt.
Health Minister says medical staff is being deliberately kept thin under a conspiracy, Saxena did not act despite multiple letters flagging the issue; ‘Delhi govt. searching for alibi as system is crumbling’
Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday accused Lieutenant-Governor V.K Saxena of ignoring the acute shortage of medical staff in Delhi government-run hospitals despite multiple letters flagging the issue in the past year.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Bharadwaj said the medical staff is being kept thin “deliberately under a conspiracy”.
The accusation by the Minister comes amid reports pointing out the shortage of medical staff at Asha Kiran shelter home following the death of 14 inmates in July. The L-G’s office and the Delhi government have traded barbs over the issue.
There was no official response from the L-G office. However, Raj Niwas sources said 10 years of “misgovernance, masqueraded by advertisements and propaganda, has begun to implode”. “Now that the system is crumbling, Saurabh Bharadwaj is frantically searching for alibi. The Delhi High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the pathetic state of affairs in Delhi government hospitals and has summoned Bharadwaj,” a source said.
The Minister said after assuming the charge of the Health Department in March last year, he wrote to the L-G over the issue for the first time on April 19, 2023, telling him that there was a shortage of 292 general medical duty officers and 234 specialists.
“No action was taken by the L-G. Instead, doctors who were holding high positions in Delhi government hospitals through the Central Health Services (CHS) were called back by the Centre,” he said.
Mr. Bharadwaj said he wrote another letter to the L-G on June 6, 2023, informing him that it would take very long time to recruit doctors through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and suggested that for the time being, doctors be hired on contractual basis. The Minister said he again wrote to Mr. Saxena on July 26 this year and requested that doctors be hired on contractual basis as soon as possible.
‘Functioning arbitrarily’
The BJP accused Mr. Bharadwaj of functioning in a “arbitrary manner” by seeking recruitment in hospitals on contractual basis. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “According to constitutional provisions, government jobs should be filled through the UPSC, but Bhardwaj wants to employ contractual workers,” the BJP leader said.
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