'Weaving a web of lies': Delhi L-G office slams Kejriwal, Health Minister over vacancies of doctors, staff in hospitals

New Delhi: In a scathing attack on the AAP government and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Lieutenant Governor's office on Wednesday accused them of "weaving a web of lies" to "mislead" people and the judiciary over various issues, including vacancies of doctors and other medical staff in the hospitals.

The process for appointment on various posts is already under way although the minister has been "weaving a web of lies on a daily basis to hide his and the AAP government's colossal failures," charged the L-G secretariat officials.

The L-G's "lies" were "exposed" from the fact that the high court-appointed Sarin Committee in its recommendations has constantly pressed upon the issue of filling up vacant positions of doctors, specialists, nurses, pharmacists and technicians at the government hospitals, AAP sources charged.

Last Sunday, Bharadwaj claimed that he wrote several times to Lt Governor VK Saxena in recent months, flagging scarcity of doctors in the government-run hospitals but no action was taken on his letters.

"This is being done very deliberately and as a pre-mediated exercise to not only mislead the people of Delhi who are suffering due to mal-governance over a decade, but also the judiciary that has started taking suo motu cognizance of issues related to health, sanitation and education," alleged the L-G office.

It accused the AAP government and Bharadwaj of creating a "smokescreen of false alibis" through "pointless" letters and correspondence, saying Bharadwaj wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on January 2, 2024, for recruitment of doctors and paramedics for one year on a contractual basis.

The task of appointment or hiring of doctors are exclusively within the domain of the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) headed by CM Kejriwal, said the L-G office.

"Had the intention been to appoint doctors and other staff on contract basis or otherwise, Kejriwal would have immediately convened a meeting of the NCCSA and done the needful," the L-G office said.

Kejriwal could have directed the chief secretary, who is a member of the NCCSA to put up the matter for hiring doctors and medical staff on the agenda, instead the chief minister referred Bharadwaj's letter to the Lt Governor for his "kind intervention", it said.

"This was obviously done to once again play the now familiar game of appointing favoured individuals in an opaque manner, this time with approval of the L-G," it alleged.

The chief minister did not take any decision on the vacancies of doctors in the NCCSA meeting in February, 2024. Also, Bharadwaj did not raise the matter with Kejriwal, who was out of jail on bail granted by the Supreme Court in May, although the court had allowed the chief minister to put up "critical" matters to the L-G, said the officials at the L-G office.

Previously, Bharadwaj wrote to the L-G on April 19, 2023, about filling up 292 vacant posts of non-teaching specialists and 234 general duty medical officers (GDMOs) that were being already processed by the UPSC, they said.

The UPSC informed the L-G Secretariat that the exams for filling up 234 posts of the GDMO were conducted on August 20, 2023, said the L-G office.

It said that the Delhi State Subordinate Services Board (DSSSB) had begun the hiring of para-medical and nursing staff in the Delhi government hospitals on the L-G's initiative. The process for appointment of nearly 3,000 doctors and medical staff has already been initiated through the UPSC and DSSSB.

The DSSB has appointed 962 nursing staff and 777 paramedical staff on contract basis in various Delhi government hospitals in 2023-24, it said.

So far, 19 non teaching specialists (grade III) and 41 assistant professors (Ayurveda and Unani) have been appointed since January 1, 2023, out of which a few are yet to join duty since the NCCSA meeting could not be held, added the L-G office.

The AAP sources said the Sareen Committee has also noted that the current process through the UPSC will take quite a long time to fill these positions and has recommended recruitment on a contract basis.

Had the L-G hired the doctors and paramedics as is being claimed, there would have been no need for the Sarin Committee to recommend the hiring on contractual basis, they said.

The Health department’s affidavit approved by the Health Secretary, that was filed in the High Court, did not mention that the joining were affected due to non holding of the NCCSA meeting, they claimed.