Delhi government failed to utilise 75% health budget in 2017-18: Congress

New Delhi  :  The Congress on Saturday attacked the Delhi government for allegedly not utilising over 75 per cent of the budgetary allocation for health sector in 2017-18 as it only spent Rs 666 crore out of Rs 2,627 crore.

Addressing a press conference here, former Delhi Finance and Health Minister A.K. Walia said: "During its three-year rule, the AAP government has been underutilising Budget money for a serious issue like health, which has a cascading effect on the Delhi people." 

He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had been "patting its own back for record budgetary allocation for health, but the ground reality was totally different". 

Giving figures on what he said was Delhi government's budget utilisation data in three years, the Congress leader said: "In 2014-15, the government allocated Rs 2,390 crore and spent Rs 2,124 crore, while the allocation for health was Rs 3,138 crore in 2015-16, of which only Rs 2,012 crore was spent." 

"In 2016-17, Rs 3,200 crore was allocated for health, of which Rs 2,096 crore was spent and, therefore, 34 per cent remained unutilised," he claimed. 

"In 2017-18, the allocation for health was Rs 2,627 crore, of which only Rs 666 crore was spent till September 2017, which means over 75 per cent funds remaining unutilised." 

Talking about primary health, Walia said: "When the Congress government was voted out in Delhi, there were 602 primary health centres. The AAP government reduced this number to 491 in 2016-17." 

He claimed that the AAP government also closed down 111 dispensaries and turned 24 into polyclinics. 

Slamming the Arvind Kejriwal government, the Congress leader said: "They promised to increase beds in government hospitals to 30,000. But only 806 beds have been added since 2014.

"In contrast, during the Congress rule from 2008-2013, the average number of beds added was 544 per year," he said.

Walia said the registration of patients in Mobile Health Clinics and school health clinics had reduced by 91 per cent in 2016-17 compared with 2013-14. 

He said the mobile health clinics were on the verge of closure while school health clinics have been reduced to just 53. 

He also criticised the Delhi government for setting up only 162 Mohalla Clinicis in three years against its promise of 1,000.