Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly Vijender Gupta, on Wednesday, accused the Delhi government of attempting to hide the truth behind alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board.
Citing a report by the Delhi’s chief secretary, Gupta claimed that due to the alleged corruption in state government, the balance sheets of the DJB for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23 have not been prepared hampering CAG audit.
Gupta, while addressing a press conference here, said surprisingly this report, which exposes the alleged irregularities of the Jal Board, was presented by city’s top official March 15, upon being called after a resolution passed in the assembly, but instead of presenting this report in the assembly, it was kept hidden in the files, the BJP leader alleged.
The LoP pointed out that as per rules, if a report was requested from the CS through the assembly and he provided it to the minister. He asked why then was a copy of this report not given to the opposition MLAs and alleged that government wanted to hide corruption and malpractices.
Gupta said while the government had not prepared the balance sheets for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, following an order from the high court, the balance sheets for these three years were prepared, and due to the delay, the CAG audit was delayed, he added.
He further said that Water Minister Atishi, often complains of not receiving funds, but the reality is that the DJB is not utilising the funds allocated to it in the budget, he claimed. He alleged that Jal Board inflates its budget, but is not able to use the allocated funds according to the sanctioned conditions.
The BJP leader also accused the Jal Board of not being able to justify where and how it has used around Rs 28400, which had been given to it since 2015- 16 till now.
He added that the Delhi government has been regularly informed by the DJB about the board’s inability to repay the debt of Rs 73,000 crore, but the government has remained inactive and has not taken any effective steps to repay or reduce this debt, Gupta claimed.
The leader of the Opposition demanded an investigation by the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) into this matter and stated that he, along with the BJP legislative party, would meet the LG.
He added that they would also demand the preparation of the balance sheets for the last two years and their audit by the CAG so that the alleged corruption of the Delhi government can be exposed.