Congress targets Arvind Kejriwal's govt over state of health services in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 28: Seeking to corner the AAP government over the situation of health services in Delhi amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress on Saturday accused it of thriving only on publicity despite failing to do ground-level work.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Congress office, party spokesperson Pawan Khera cited data to claim that in the last five years, the AAP government has failed to open even one new hospital in the city.

"This is a government which thrives on publicity and advertisement. But the ground reality is exposed at the time of a crisis like the Corona pandemic faced by us," Khera said.

No immediate reaction was available immediately from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Khera also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to three cities to take stock of the development of vaccines against COVID-19, claiming everything has been turned into "event management".

"The government of India should have a clear policy over how and when it will allocate the vaccine among different categories as Rahul Gandhi has sought to know. Work should be done first, publicity can wait," he said.

Sharpening his attack on the ruling AAP dispensation, Khera alleged that it has added only 776 beds in government hospitals in its over five years in power despite promising 30,000 beds in its election manifesto. He also claimed that the Kejriwal government could not start and finish even a single new hospital.

"This year, when COVID-19 pandemic is being faced by the people, the Delhi government has managed to spend only 25 per cent of its allocation on health services. It has also reduced the expenditure on the health sector that was 0.84 per cent of the GSDP," he alleged, citing data.

Khera also claimed that even though the AAP government promised construction of 1,000 Mohalla Clinics, just over 200 were functioning currently. "The Delhi government has failed to do ground level work, and Delhi people are facing the consequences of its mistakes," he said. The AICC spokesperson also accused the Delhi government of indulging in blame games with the Centre and other states over crop stubble burning.

Experts claim crop stubble burning contributes only 10 per cent to air pollution, he said. So, the Delhi government is accountable for the remaining 90 per cent, Khera added, alleging it has failed to show "seriousness" on addressing the problem of pollution in Delhi.