The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Monday took cognisance of a complaint regarding rampant corruption in the state Health Department under AAP leaders including Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendra Jain.

The complaint was lodged with the ACB by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Assembly Vijendra Gupta. The branch also said they have sought prior approval for conducting enquiry into the matter has been sent to the competent authority.

Earlier, Gupta wrote a letter to the ACB and said, “We are writing to demand an immediate and thorough investigation into the rampant corruption plaguing the Health Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi. The scale of financial misconduct under the current Health Minister, Saurabh Bhardwaj, and the former Health Minister, Satyendra Jain, is staggering and requires urgent attention.”

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, “Vijender Gupta, had filed a complaint with the ACB regarding scams in the Delhi government's health department. Now, an FIR is about to be registered, and Kejriwal's dark truths will be revealed.”

He alleged that healthcare services in Delhi have completely collapsed and whether it is operational hospitals, those under construction, or Mohalla Clinics, all have become centres of corruption.

“Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and the ministers of Kejriwal's Government, whose health department projects are all delayed, should take responsibility and resign. Forget the construction of new hospitals, even the upgrading of existing ones has been delayed by years,” Sachdeva said.

He called AAP leaders including Delhi Health Minister as ‘Ministers of press conferences’. “Delhi's Mohalla Clinics, and their patient bills, pathology tests, and X-rays, have all become subjects of corruption, and an investigation is ongoing. Such scams are not possible without the silent consent of the Minister and the Chief Minister,” he said.

Gupta, in a press conference, highlighted numerous cases of mismanagement and corruption. “The 24 approved hospital projects, with a total cost of Rs 5,590 crores, many are still incomplete and have incurred significant cost overruns. A clear example is the case of seven ICU hospitals, with 6,800 beds, approved at a cost of Rs 1,125 crores, but even after three years, only 50 per cent of the work has been completed,” he alleged.

Further, he claimed that out of the 94 planned multipurpose clinics, only 52 have been constructed. Another issue raised was the Health Information Management System (HIMS) project stating that the transparent system hasn’t been implemented even after eight years, resulting in a waste of Rs 130 crores.

He highlighted the Delhi government's failure to utilise central funds, particularly Rs 2,406 crores sanctioned under the PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM). He demanded the immediate resignation of Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, as criminal negligence and corruption have put countless lives at risk and wasted taxpayer money.

Reacting to Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj's attempts to distance himself from the allegations, Gupta said that the AAP ministers are completely stunned by these revelations and are now on the back foot.