Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijender Gupta, has blamed the Delhi Government for attempting to hide the truth behind astounding financial irregularities in Delhi Jal Board. Citing a report by the Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government, Vijender Gupta pointed out that due to the rampant corruption in the Delhi Government, the balance sheets of the Delhi Jal Board for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23 have not been prepared, which has prevented the CAG from conducting an audit.

Gupta expressed surprise that this report, which exposes the irregularities of the Delhi Jal Board, was presented by the Chief Secretary on 15th March 2024, upon being called after a resolution passed in the assembly, but instead of presenting this report in the Assembly, it was kept hidden in the files.

According to the rules, if a report was requested from the Chief Secretary through the assembly and he provided it to the minister, then why was a copy of this report not given to the opposition MLAs? The reason is clear: the government wanted to hide its corruption and malpractices.

He also mentioned that earlier, the Delhi government had not prepared the balance sheets for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. However, following an order from the High Court, the balance sheets for these three years were prepared, and due to the delay, the CAG audit was also delayed.

It is evident from this that the Delhi Government’s intention to not prepare the balance sheets was to hide its financial irregularities and corruption.

However, after these three years, the balance sheets for the next two years, i.e., 2021-22 and 2022-23, have again been stalled and are still pending.Gupta further stated that the current Water Minister, Atishi, often complains about not receiving funds, but the reality is that the Delhi Jal Board is not utilising the funds allocated to it in the budget.

He alleged that the Delhi Jal Board inflates its budget but is unable to use the allocated funds according to the sanctioned conditions.