In the latest addition to the ongoing war of words over the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audit report on healthcare; AAP leader Gopal Rai claimed on Monday that the report validates that the healthcare infrastructure of Delhi under AAP’s tenure in government is best in the country.

During a discussion on the report in Delhi Assembly, 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. “The first part discusses the positive impact of healthcare services in the NCR on the people of Delhi. The second highlights how vacancies in various hospitals were not filled, which affected the availability of healthcare services for Delhi’s residents. The third covers the status of the expansion of new hospitals and beds in Delhi up to the year 2022,” he stated.

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Rai added that several state governments have been in power for decades in other states, Delhi’s public healthcare system still ranks highest in the country and It was due to this commitment that India’s first Mohalla Clinics were established in Delhi.

On the issue of recruitment shortage as highlighted in the report, Rai said, “The government struggled to recruit even a single data entry operator for hospitals due to the Centre’s interference”.

Meanwhile, MLA Sanjeev Jha criticized the BJP’s governance model, noting that in Gujarat, the CAG report had not been presented for four consecutive years. If withholding the report is a crime, then the same crime was committed in Gujarat. The CAG report clearly exposes that Delhi’s healthcare system was the best in India.

The AAP MLA claimed that the party studied the CAG reports and healthcare indicators from 21 states that Delhi was the only state that met 22 out of 24 health indicators. In contrast, no other state’s healthcare system met even 50 percent of these indicators. Jha asserted that the CAG report serves as solid proof that Arvind Kejriwal’s government provided the best healthcare services.

Additionally, MLA Ajay Dutt also emphasized that the CAG report explicitly ranks Delhi’s healthcare system as the best in India. “The report revealed that thousands of recruitment requests were blocked as part of a conspiracy to undermine Mohalla Clinics and hospitals. The BJP government, through the Centre and LG, deliberately prevented the appointment of doctors, halted blood test funds, and even withheld salaries of medical staff,” he said.