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AAP raps L-G for deaths at shelter home; Raj Niwas puts onus on CM
Why did Saxena appoint previously suspended officer as Asha Kiran’s administrator, asks Saurabh Bharadwaj; L-G office terms accusation ‘blatantly wrong’, says appointment was made ‘internally’ by Kejriwal, Social Welfare Minister in 2021
Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj addressing the media on the Asha Kiran shelter home issue.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday questioned Lieutenant-Governor V.K Saxena why he appointed a previously suspended officer as the administrator of the Asha Kiran shelter home where 14 inmates died last month.
In response, Raj Niwas described the Minister’s statement as “blatantly wrong and arrogantly misleading”.
In a statement, the L-G office said Mr. Saxena had no role in the appointment as the officer was appointed “internally” by the Social Welfare Department, which is a “totally transferred subject under the control of the Chief Minister and the Minister in-charge”.
Rahul Agarwal, a Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS) officer, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for taking a “bribe” in 2016. He remained suspended for five years.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Agarwal was posted as the SDM, Saraswati Vihar. He was appointed the shelter home administrator on February 15, 2021.
Mr. Bharadwaj said, “I want to know on what grounds the L-G appointed Rahul Agarwal as the administrator of the shelter home from where various irregularities and shortcomings have been reported after an extraordinarily large number of deaths of people with intellectual disability.”
He asked why Mr. Saxena did not take action against the administrator and the Social Welfare Department Secretary. Saying that the power of transfer and posting of officers lies with the L-G, Mr. Bharadwaj held Mr. Saxena responsible for the deaths.
Later, in a post on X, he accused the L-G office of “lying” over the officer’s appointment. “All transfers and postings are done by L-G or officers under the L-G. No such file comes to Ministers,” he said.
“The L-G office should show the file where the administrator of the Asha Kiran shelter home was appointed by the Minister,” he added.
BJP questions Atishi
Meanwhile, the BJP accused Ms. Atishi of “running away from responsibility”, saying the shelter home falls under her jurisdiction. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said according to a gazette notification issued on August 14 last year, every department not allotted to a Minister is under Ms. Atishi’s charge.
Former AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand earlier held the charge of the department. It’s now one of the many departments held by Ms. Atishi after Mr. Anand quit the party and joined the BJP.
“It is shameful that Atishi, who is not only the Social Welfare Minister but also the most senior Minister of the Delhi government, has not even found it important to visit the shelter home to see the inhumane conditions prevailing there,” Mr. Sachdeva said, adding that Ms. Atishi now holds 14 departments, along with those not alotted to any Minister.
He added that North West Delhi Lok Sabha MP Yogendra Chandolia had visited the shelter home and found the “pathetic conditions” prevalent there.
Mr. Sachdeva said the department does not have a full-time Minister due to the “anarchic working style of CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is adamant on running his government from jail”. “Atishi should tell how many meetings with department officials she has held since taking charge or how many visits she paid to welfare centres like Asha Kiran,” he added.
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