PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER
GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI
15TH JANUARY 2023
LG threatened officers to stop all Mohalla Clinic payments before MCD elections: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Dy CM Manish Sisodia writes to Delhi LG; recommends suspension and FIR against officers who deliberately stopped funds for Mohalla Clinics
Just before the MCD elections in Delhi, a huge conspiracy was hatched to disturb the people of Delhi: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Officials of the Health and Finance Departments deliberately stopped salaries of doctors of Mohalla Clinics: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Rent, electricity bills, lab tests payments of Mohalla Clinics were stopped before MCD elections to anger public: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
In a subdued tone, officers said that LG gave strict instructions to not make payments before the elections or else they would be suspended: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
LG must immediately identify & suspend officers responsible for the crisis and register an FIR: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Otherwise it will be proved that LG has wronged the people of Delhi by misusing the powers of services department for electoral gains: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
NEW DELHI :
Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia wrote to the Delhi LG on Sunday the arbitrary actions of certain officers of the government. In the letter, he recommended suspension and FIR against officers who deliberately stopped funds for Mohalla Clinics in October and November before the MCD elections. Shri Manish Sisodia wrote, “Just before the MCD elections in Delhi, a huge conspiracy was hatched to disturb the people of Delhi. Officials of the Health and Finance Departments deliberately stopped salaries of doctors of Mohalla Clinics. Rent, electricity bills, lab tests payments of Mohalla Clinics were stopped before MCD elections to anger public. In a subdued tone, officers said that LG gave strict instructions to not make payments before the elections or else they would be suspended. LG must immediately identify & suspend officers responsible for the crisis and register an FIR. Otherwise it will be proved that LG has wronged the people of Delhi by misusing the powers of the services department for electoral gains.”
In his letter to LG Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, the Deputy CM wrote, “Just before the MCD elections in Delhi, a huge conspiracy was hatched to disturb the people of Delhi. You know that every month about 15 lakh people come to the Mohalla Clinics set up by the Delhi Government for their treatment. In mohalla clinics, people are treated by MBBS doctors for free, their tests are done free of cost, and they are given free medicines. Mohalla Clinics are built in every corner of Delhi, so people reach their nearby Mohalla Clinics very easily. Just before the MCD elections, a conspiracy was hatched to stall this entire system of mohalla clinics.”
He added, “Some officers posted in the Delhi Government deliberately moved the files around in such a way that just two months before the MCD elections i.e. in the months of October and November, the doctors of the mohalla clinic were not paid their salaries. All the tests in Mohalla Clinic were stopped so that even if the doctors come to Mohalla Clinic despite not getting a salary and also want to treat the people, then the necessary tests for the treatment of the disease can not be done. Not only this, the electricity bills of Mohalla Clinics were also stopped and the rents of Mohalla Clinics which are running in rented buildings were also not deposited. All this was done so that the public gets upset and angry with our government, and the doctors get upset due to non-payment of salary. So that this mess angers the public.”
He continued, “The officials of the Health Department and Finance Department kept moving the files from here to there by making one or the other excuse. They were moving the files around putting new queries, and two months before the election the files were released without disbursements. When I talked to the officials about this, officially they kept on giving some technical reasons but in a subdued tone they also kept on saying that on behalf of the LG there were strict instructions to not make payments before the elections or else they would be suspended. Since you have the services department, all the officers are afraid of you.”
He further wrote, “The system of Mohalla Clinics has been running smoothly in Delhi for the last seven years. This type of problem has never come to the fore. Doctors have always been getting a salary under this system, tests of common people have been done for free. The interesting thing is that soon after the elections were over, in the month of December all the objections were suddenly removed and all the payments were made. How did this happen? It is clear from this that just two months before the elections, withholding the salary and other payments related to Mohalla Clinic was a part of a big conspiracy.”
He added, I request you to identify the responsible officers behind this whole conspiracy and suspend them immediately. If you do not take strict action against them then people will say that the officers were hatching this conspiracy just before the election on your instructions. In order to hide the conspiracy and to escape from their accountability, the officers will definitely tell some story or the other, but they must be asked that the system under which the doctors of Mohalla clinics were getting their salary for seven years and the system under which the general public’s tests kept on happening, just two months before the elections, why were various excuses put on it to rotate the files, even if there are some questions in the eyes of an officer, how can the treatment of people be stopped? How can doctors’ salaries be stopped?”
He continued, “Stopping the treatment of the people of Delhi is a criminal act, if the officials posted in the government conspire against the government which has been elected by the people, then it is treason, if this conspiracy has been hatched by the officials, then it is very unfortunate. It does not behove a person sitting on a constitutional post like Lieutenant Governor to hatch such a conspiracy against the elected government for political gains. And if some officials have conspired at their own level, then definitely you should take strict action against them and give a message that you believe in the constitution and do not tolerate any such act.”
He concluded, “I request you (LG) to 1. Identify the guilty officers and suspend them immediately. 2. Register an FIR against them and arrest them. Otherwise, it will be proved that you have misused the powers of the services department for electoral gains. I hope that you will react to this as soon as possible by taking strictest action.”
