India News | Delhi Assembly Panel Report Accuses Officers of Delaying Submission of Action Taken Reports to House

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) The petitions committee of the Delhi Assembly has alleged that the chief secretary and other officers "wilfully stalled" submission of action taken reports on matters related to mohalla clinics and old age pensions, and recommended that the matter be referred to the privileges committee for further probe.

After the petitions committee tabled its report in the Assembly on Thursday, there was a heated debate on the matter between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP in the House.

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During the debate, AAP MLAs also demanded referring BJP MLA Vijender Gupta's conduct and his alleged distortion of the facts of the report to the privileges committee as well as his suspension.

Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla, chairing the session, observed that Gupta was "deliberately" trying to interrupt the proceedings of the House, but did not take any action against him.

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The petitions committee, in its 4th interim report on "non-submission of action taken reports (ATRs) on the first, second and third interim reports", opined that the chief secretary, the principal secretary (finance), the secretary (health) and the secretary (social welfare) have "wilfully attempted to stall and delay" the submission of ATRs to the Assembly.

Presenting the report in the House, petitions committee chairman and AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta said the matter of non-submission of ATRs to the Assembly should be referred to the Committee of Privileges for detailed examination and report so that the guilty officers can be identified and punished.

The petitions committee had submitted its first, second and third interim reports on the issues of removal of data entry operators from OPD counters in Delhi government hospitals, stoppage of old age pension and non payments related to mohalla clinics, respectively, to the House in January 2023. The report was adopted by the House on January 19.

Since the ATRs, as recommended by the committee, had not been received within the stipulated time despite reminders sent to the officers concerned, the committee asked them to attend its meeting on August 13.

In the meantime, draft ATRs on the three interim reports were received by the committee through the Assembly Speaker's office.

AAP MLA Gupta said that the chief secretary, in a note dated June 8, wrote that the committee undertook investigations in "day-to-day administrative matters" of the Delhi government which is prohibited as per the GNCTD Act, 1991.

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, speaking on the issue in the House, questioned the formation of the petitions committee saying all its nine members belonged to the AAP and there was no representation of the opposition in it.

He also alleged that the petitions committee recommendations were "self-contradictory and devoid of legality".

AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha demanded that Gupta be suspended from the House till the matter is probed by the privileges committee.

Another AAP MLA, Madan Lal, concurred and said, "He (the BJP MLA) does not deserve to be here."

Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla stated that BJP MLA Gupta was disrupting the House since morning. BJP MLAs then got into a war of words with her.

Mohan Singh Bisht said the AAP MLAs, being in the majority, were "throttling the voice of opposition" and also objected to the manner the report was tabled in the House.

Birla alleged that the opposition members were trying to disrupt the proceedings of the House through Gupta.

"It is condemnable and shameful that facts were distorted from the report presented in the Delhi Assembly. The opposition members do not want to discuss issues of public welfare,” she said.

She advised opposition members to “mind their behaviour”.

Following his address, the BJP MLAs again got up, to which Birla said, "Is Comedy Nights going on here? Why are you laughing?"

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)