Delhi: AAP alleges north corporation selling 2 hospital plots, BJP says claims baseless

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday alleged that North Delhi Municipal Corporation was handing over two plots of land meant for hospitals to private players by bypassing the Delhi Municipal Act.
Addressing a press conference, AAP MLAs Dilip Pandey and Vishesh Ravi alleged that the BJP-led north corporation had floated commercial tenders to sell the plots, which were acquired to build Jhandewalan Chest Clinic and Narela Dispensary Complex.
However, this has been refuted by the saffron party. “No commercial tender has been floated by North Delhi Municipal Corporation to sell hospital land,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.
Pandey alleged that in a complete disregard to the law of the land, BJP bypassed the DMC Act 1957 to benefit the private mafia. “Karol Bagh’s Jhandewalan Chest Clinic and Narela’s Qutabgarh Dispensary Complex are being illegally given to private organisations. BJP will now make the poor pay for treatment at hospitals, which were earlier completely free,” the Timarpur MLA alleged.
Ravi, the Karol Bagh MLA, claimed that BJP’s corrupt functionaries have forced the north corporation to give away both the hospitals for 20 years without charging any fees.
The two AAP functionaries claimed that the land meant for Jhandewalan Chest Clinic measures 510 square metres while the plot for Qutabgarh Dispensary Complex in Narela Zone measures 4,000 square metres.
They alleged that the proposal to sell the land was first brought up in the standing committee where AAP opposed it. “And now, without bringing the proposal in the House, tenders for the auctioning of these two properties have been issued,” Pandey alleged.
Delhi BJP said there was no truth in the allegations levelled by the AAP functionaries. “There is one municipal dispensary building at Jhandewalan, which is closed due to the economic crunch. Now in public interest, the north corporation has invited the expression of interest from NGOs to maintain the building and run a free-for-all charitable dispensary,” Kapoor said.
“The Narela dispensary was also built in 2015 but could not be started due to paucity of funds. Both buildings shall continue to remain municipal property in future too,” he added.