Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday said that the infrastructural support provided by the Central Government over the past decade helped ease the health and transport burden on the Delhi administration during the previous AAP-led regime. She also accused the earlier Government of negligence and corruption in critical sectors like healthcare and sanitation.

“Delhi spent 11 years under a Government that ignored the needs of the people. During COVID, only 97 death certificates were issued by the State despite the overflowing crematoriums across the city. It was the Modi Government that stepped in and helped Delhi survive that crisis,” said Gupta, addressing a joint press conference with Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva to mark 11 years of the Modi Government in the Centre.

She emphasised that Delhi’s health system remained functional largely due to central institutions like AIIMS, which alone handles nearly five lakh OPD visits annually, significantly reducing the load on Delhi’s hospitals.

Gupta further said that corruption in healthcare had been “rampant” under the previous dispensation and claimed that her Government has since regularised 1,500 nursing positions and implemented the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which has already benefited over 1,000 people in the Capital.

“Despite having State-run infrastructure, it is the Central Government that has filled the critical gaps,” Gupta said.

She added that work on 1,100 Arogya Kendras (health centres) was underway, with 34 nearing completion and scheduled to be inaugurated on June 14.

The Chief Minister also said Delhi had received `1.25 lakh crore worth of road infrastructure from the Centre.

She said phase one, worth `35,000 crore, was complete, the second phase involving `64,000 crore is nearing completion, and a third phase worth `24,000 crore is set to begin. “This road network is becoming the lifeline of Delhi,” she added.

Gupta attributed the entire contribution to the Delhi Metro project to the Central Government, calling it “the backbone of city transport.” She also credited the Centre with strengthening education through its institutions in Delhi. “The previous Government did nothing for the future of Delhi’s children, but today efforts from KG to PG are being made,” she said.

Listing welfare schemes, she said about 3 lakh pregnant women have received Rs 5,000 each under the PM Matru Vandana Yojana and 2.5 lakh women have been given free gas cylinders under Ujjwala. Under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, free ration has reached 75 lakh Delhiites and loans worth `20,000 crore have been distributed under the Mudra Yojana.

Gupta also highlighted the progress on cleaning the Yamuna and managing Delhi’s waste. “We allocated `9,000 crore for cleaning the Yamuna, reviving sewage treatment plants and decentralising the system. The change is becoming visible now,” she said. “Of the 38 STPs, 16 have already been revived.”

Referring to the garbage mounds, she said the previous Government failed to address the issue.

“Now, the public has removed that Government, and the mountains of waste are also disappearing. The Okhla landfill, which was 60-65 metres tall, has been reduced to around 30-40 metres and will be cleared by March 2026,” she added.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva also lauded the Modi Government’s “reform, perform, transform” model, crediting it with turning around India’s economy, boosting infrastructure and improving national security and dignity for the poor.

Sachdeva said that the Modi Government, working with social sensitivity and firm determination, has become the Government with unprecedented scientific progress, as evidenced by the Chandrayaan mission, economic growth, with India now among the world’s top five economies, being sensitive to the dignity of the poor and women, whether by providing toilets without applications or free ration; a strong national defence system, whose latest proof the world saw in May 2025 when India struck inside Pakistan.

Furthermore, he said that people’s belief in the slogan while the Modi Government took the significant decision to revoke Article 370 in the national interest; it also took major decisions like introducing the new Wakf law and banning Triple Talaq to improve the lives of minorities, especially women.

“The Modi Government brought relief to Hindus persecuted in Islamic countries like Pakistan by introducing the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and by implementing 33 per cent reservation for women, it showed respect for women’s dignity,” Sachdeva said.

Taking a dig at the previous AAP Government, he said that despite all of Kejriwal’s negativity, it is a different matter that today the roads built by the Modi Government or the Fame electric buses are all lifelines for Delhi.