CAG report validates AAP’s healthcare model as best in country: Gopal Rai
Rai stated that the AAP government took significant steps to provide quality healthcare to Delhiites, introducing Mohalla Clinics for the first time in the country.
Following a detailed discussion in the Delhi Assembly on Monday on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the public health infrastructure and management of health services during previous government’s tenure, Speaker Vijender Gupta said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House shall prioritise the examination of the report and submit its findings within three months.
He directed that the Assembly Secretariat to immediately forward the report to the Health Department which would submit its Action Taken Note (ATN) within a month’s time.
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The report that was tabled in the Assembly on February 28 has highlighted several lapses and irregularities in the Health Department.
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The CAG audit covered the period between 2016-17 and 2021-22, during which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was in power in Delhi. Its report points to several significant shortcomings and irregularities, including severe shortage of healthcare personnel with a significant deficit of specialist doctors, medical officers, nurses, paramedical staff, and pharmacists, which was recorded in government hospitals.
The report also revealed unavailability of essential medicines and equipment, as many hospitals lacked the necessary medicines and medical equipment required for patient treatment.
It also highlighted that most CATS ambulances were found operating without the essential life-saving equipment that the Health Department failed to utilize along with fifteen plots of land that had been specifically acquired for healthcare facilities.
On the financial mismanagement, the report stated that a significant portion of the allocated budget remained unutilized each year, notably, 78.41 per cent of the health infrastructure budget in 2018-19 was left unspent.
Speaker Vijender Gupta, after the discussions on the report, has ruled that the PAC shall prioritize the examination of the CAG report, and submit findings within three months.
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