The Lieutenant Government of Delhi has adopted double standards in ordering probe in purchase of medicines and consumables supplied in Delhi government hospitals, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has said despite bringing inaction in the matter by the health secretary, ignoring the elected government, no action was taken against him.
Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat, Delhi’s Health Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that in the months of July-August, samples were sent for testing, including some medicines and other consumables used in hospitals like bandages, cotton, etc. He mentioned that today, news channels reported that the investigation report has come out, and of the 43 samples, five did not meet the prescribed standards.
Delhi’s Health Minister stated that he was informed about this during a meeting almost one and half months after these samples were sent for testing. Upon seeing news about CBI investigation orders regarding sample testing on news channels today, he felt that perhaps an investigation would be conducted regarding medicines and other consumables. However, it is quite surprising that orders for a CBI investigation have been issued only regarding medicines, as per the orders from LG. This double standard in investigating corruption is questionable, the minister said.
Questioning the intentions of the Central Government, Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “The reason for this dual approach in the CBI investigation case regarding irregularities found in samples of various items purchased at different times is solely because the other consumables for hospitals were procured through the Central Government’s GEM (Government e-Marketing) website.”
The Delhi Health Minister mentioned that if orders for a CBI investigation had been issued for both types of items, it would have directly pointed fingers at the Central Government. Therefore, adopting this dual approach, orders for a CBI investigation were issued only regarding medicines.
Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said that from the day he assumed the position of Health Minister of Delhi until now, approximately 40-50 meetings have been held with the Health Secretary, Directorate of Health Services (DHS), and other health officials. In all these meetings, the Health Secretary was sent UO notes for the decisions taken, minutes of the meetings were sent for decisions made during the meetings, and directions were given to the Health Secretary to implement the decisions made in those meetings. Along with this, several separate communications were made, asking for a report on the actions taken based on the orders given, to be presented before the Health Minister.
“Surprisingly, neither any action has been taken by the Health Secretary so far, nor has there been any response from Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar to any of my letters requesting reports. After taking over as the Health Minister on March 9, 2023, I issued an order on March 21, 2023 that all medicines, consumables and equipment purchased in Delhi government hospitals should be audited promptly. It would surprise you to know that Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar has not adhered to that direction to date,” the Delhi Health Minister added.
Providing information related to the procurement of medicines, Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj mentioned, “In Delhi and perhaps in other states as well, the procurement of medicines in hospitals is done through the Central Procurement Agency (CPA). The responsibility for this CPA lies with the DGHS, and the ultimate responsibility rests with the Health Secretary. When the central government was informed that there was corruption happening in the procurement of medicines in Delhi hospitals, and since all investigation agencies are under their control, and because in the Health Department in Delhi, the highest position, the Health Secretary’s position, is held by S.B. Deepak Kumar, then why isn’t the central government taking any action against Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar and the immediate former DGHS?
Providing journalists with crucial information, Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Around two months ago, on October 23, 2023, we submitted a complaint through Delhi’s CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal to the Lieutenant Governor, requesting the removal of Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar and the immediate former DGHS, Dr Nutan Mundeja, and calling for departmental action against them.”
Questioning the central government, the Delhi Health Minister asked, “When the Health Minister of Delhi himself has recommended the dismissal of these two officials and departmental action against them, then why hasn’t the central government taken any strict action against these officials?’
Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj once again appealed to the central government to take immediate and stern action against these responsible officials now that even their investigation has revealed corruption in the procurement of medicines.
Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj, while accusing the central government, said that for the incidents emerging today, the responsibility for all of these lies with the central government. He mentioned that today, any official is not answerable either to the elected government of Delhi or to the representatives chosen by the public in the government. The responsibility of these officials has been terminated by the central government. Due to the audacity created by the Centre, the officials have become so negligent that while the Minister provides them with directions, they don’t adhere to them. The Center’s statement that corruption is happening in Delhi government hospitals and that ministers are colluding in corruption is quite a whimsical position. How will officials collude in corruption when they don’t even follow the Minister’s directives?
Highlighting this arrogant behaviour of the officials in front of the media, the Minister said, “You all must be aware that for the past 2 weeks, I have been consistently conducting surprise inspections in Delhi government hospitals, and you can find information about all these surprise inspections on Twitter and other social media platforms. You can see in all those videos that Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar is not present in a single surprise inspection.”
He mentioned that although he regularly invites S.B. Deepak Kumar for these surprise inspections, he never shows up for any of them. Some time ago, he held individual meetings with the administrations of all Delhi hospitals. He explained that there are approximately 32 government hospitals under the Delhi government, and he conducted meetings with the top officials of different departments in all these hospitals. He mentioned that invitations were extended to Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar for all these meetings, but surprisingly, in any meeting at any hospital, Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar never attended.
Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj remarked that this is happening because the central government has relieved these officials of their responsibilities towards the elected government of Delhi and the ministers. The officials know that the Minister can only call them but can’t do anything else. Therefore, these officials don’t listen to the representatives of Delhi’s elected government, the public representatives in the government, or the ministers.
Minister Shri Saurabh Bharadwaj shared, “We have previously communicated in writing to the Lieutenant Governor that these officials are not performing their duties correctly, and departmental action should be taken against them. However, despite our request, no action has been taken by the Lieutenant Governor. Today, once again, we are requesting the Central Government and the Lieutenant Governor that if your investigation finds that corruption is occurring in the procurement of medicines in Delhi hospitals, then immediate strict action should be taken against responsible officials – Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar and the former DGHS, and they should be immediately dismissed from their positions.”
