Saurabh Bhardwaj accuses Delhi LG of stealing credit for govt projects

New Delhi [India], April 9 : Delhi Minister of Health, Urban Development and Water Saurabh Bhardwaj on Sunday hit out at the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena for stealing credit for state government projects.

Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "The LG has been conducting the inspection of drains in Delhi and issuing lengthy press releases to make it look like the work was being conducted under his supervision. It was because of the magnmity of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that the Delhi Government until now allowed the LG to visit these drains like a tourist."

Addressing a press conference on the issue at the Delhi Secretariat on Sunday, Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "The LG is not allowed to spend even a single rupee that belongs to the Delhi Government as the Constitution of India does not give him that power. Only the elected government can allot money from the Budget."

Saurabh Bhardwaj presented documents on the matter during the press conference and said, "This work had been undertaken by the Delhi Government in 2017 and the respective Water Ministers since then have constantly tweeted about the work that was taking place from time to time. CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is a well-educated person and an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) pass out has formulated a vision to clean the drains in Delhi along with the Yamuna river."

Providing further details, he said that to clean the Yamuna, the drains that are falling into it, such as the Najafgarh drain, Shahdara drain, and supplementary drain, would need to be cleaned first. "The water from those drains will have to be cleaned so that the Yamuna does not remain dirty and polluted. Initially, we treated the Ghoga drain, after which a central government official issued a letter recommending other states learn from Delhi. This letter is from the CPHO department which is under Union Minister Hardeep Puri, which is proof of the good work done by the Delhi Government", he said.

The Water Minister further added, "The Rajokri drain, which is situated in the southern part of the city, was treated in 2017, and for this work, the Delhi Government received an award from the Central government. He added that in 2019, a pilot project was carried out on the Shahdara drain, and all the newspapers of the time carried this piece of information and also said that the work on the Shahdara drain was successful."

He hit out at the LG and said, "While the Delhi Government and its departments are doing their work successfully, the LG now goes to these places and tries to take credit for it. The LG should be aware that he cannot spend a single rupee of the Delhi government Budget because the Constitution of India does not give him that power. We have allocated so much money for the cleng of drains in the Budget and as a result of it the drains in Delhi are being cleaned."

"The technology that the LG demonstrated in front of the media during his site visit today is called the Supplementary Drain and it was implemented in Delhi in 2021. Aerators are installed in it so that the amount of oxygen in the water can be increased by air from the air. Floating wetlands are created so that the floating plantation can clean this water", he further added.

Saurabh Bhardwaj also hit out at the LG for saying that an educational degree is not very important and that it is a just receipt that shows that a person has spent money.

He said that "The statement of the LG proves that he believes that the Prime Minister does not have a genuine degree. CM Arvind Kejriwal passed out of IIT, which is a very prestigious institution in the country. But today the LG said that there is no need for an IIT degree, a degree is just a receipt showing how much money we've spent. I wonder how many Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Joint Secretaries of the LG are without degrees. Why keep degree holders when people without degrees are walking on the street?"

He concluded by saying, "The Constitution has given the responsibility of overseeing the law and order of Delhi to the LG. The Delhi Police is under his authority and yet there are murders taking place in Delhi in broad daylight. On New Year's Eve, a girl was stripped and dragged for 21 kilometres. It was the LG's job to protect her. It is LG's job to stop such crimes. But, the Deputy Commissioner of Police went on to give a clean chit to the criminals who have a charge sheet filed against them. Gang wars have been on the rise in Delhi under VK Saxena's authority, and he has done nothing to stop them. The LG should take responsibility for all this and ensure that citizens of Delhi feel safe."

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