Delhi CM seeks report on drug dues

New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Tuesday, said that his government will act against the officials who are responsible for bills of suppliers not being paid and which has led to a medicine crunch at hospitals run by it.

In a letter, Mr Kejriwal instructed chief secretary M.M. Kutty to respond by Wednesday on why bills have not been paid. He has also asked the latter to build a system to ensure that officers are held responsible for such lapses. The chief minister’s letter followed a surprise visit at a government run hospital last week. He did not route it through health minister Satyendar Jain.

Sources said the change in the chief minister’s way of working has come after feedback that his AAP got from the general public and party volunteers. Once seen as an anti-corruption party, the AAP is now more an anti-Modi party owing to Mr Kejriwal’s bitter and wordy duel with the BJP-led Centre over administrative control in Delhi.

The party feels that since the L-G, who is the Centre’s representative in Delhi, has much of that control, Mr Kejriwal’s ministers have been unable to push the work they want done, and are instead blamed by the public for non-performance.

Ministers have claimed that bureaucrats and other officials too pay scant heed to them. According to the ministers, by directly making them responsible for tasks, the chief minister hopes to ensure much smoother functioning. He has also stopped attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for everything, party sources pointed out.

Meanwhile, rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra, on Tuesday, sought lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal’s “immediate” intervention over the shortage of medicines in Delhi government hospitals. He claimed that despite adequate stock in the godowns, life-saving medicines at public hospitals are in short supply.

Mr Mishra, who was sacked from the chief minister’s city Cabinet earlier this month, had met the

L-G on Monday with complaints about an alleged “scam” in the purchase of medicine and ambulance by Mr Kejriwal’s government. He also wrote to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, demanding a special session of Delhi Assembly at Ramlila Ground to discuss corruption charges against Mr Kejriwal and Mr Jain.

Mr Mishra claimed that he visited three godowns on Tuesday and found that medicines have been “dumped” without adequate shortage facility. He further alleged that Mr Kejriwal has put pressure on Mr Kutty to clear the outstanding bills of suppliers of medicines.