CAG rips into Delhi government for messing up services, utilities

NEW DELHI: The report of the comptroller and auditor general ( CAG) on the Delhi government for the year ended March 2012 is a scathing indictment of many departments and public utilities. Healthcare, transport, power, water and sewage and even showcase infrastructure projects and schemes have been put under the lens and the picture that has emerged is not all that pretty. The report was tabled in the Delhi assembly on Tuesday.


If you have been wondering why government hospitals often fail to provide ambulances on time, the report says that at two major hospitals - Lok Nayak Hospital and Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital - ambulances are used for commuting, odd errands and even transporting bodies to the mortuary! The hospitals are in a mess with a squeeze on space, shortage of medicines and vacancies for critical posts.

Not only has Delhi Transco failed miserably to keep pace with the growing demand for power, it has also given an undue advantage to private discoms through rebates and failed to penalize them for non-payment, the report says. Delhi Jal Board has spent a lot of funds over the past 18 years but failed to augment water supply and plug wastage.

And the PWD, which has a monopoly on the city's infrastructure projects, seems to be extremely reluctant to penalize contractors for delays and deviations.

The chargesheet

Health: Govt hospital ambulances used for transporting medicines, doctors, cash and bodies

Water: 28.4% of residents not getting piped water. Delhi Jal Board lost Rs 3,950cr to short billing. Rs600cr spent on augmenting supply but no results were seen

Transco: Transmission capacity of 2,380 MVA added, well short of the 7,420 MVA target. No penalty on discomsBRPL & BYPL for irregular payments

Transport: Cluster bus scheme hastily implemented, resulting in fund outgo of Rs 15.48cr despite a partial rollout

Hoursing for poor: Centre approved 1,10,584 dwelling units under JNNURM, only 10,684 units were completed