The BJP on Wednesday claimed to have unearthed “Scam Part-II” in the education sector alleging that the AAP government spent ₹28.70 lakh each for the construction of around 366 classrooms in nursery schools.
Claiming that a “nexus” between Education Minister Manish Sisodia and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and “corruption in the name of education” had come to light, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that the AAP government had committed “serious corruption”.
Documents obtained by BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana and media co-in-charge Neelkant Bakshi are a proof of this, Mr. Tiwari said.
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The documents comprised purported minutes of a Delhi government finance committee meeting held in March 2018.
The papers come in the wake of the BJP’s allegations on Tuesday that the Delhi government had perpetrated a “scam” of ₹2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in government schools.
“On December 2, 2015, a budgetary allocation of ₹221.44 crore was made and the contract was given. Subsequently, by oral order, the budget allocation was raised to ₹326.36 crore, which is against the rules and comes in the category of corruption,” Mr. Tiwari said.
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‘No written order’
“Serious corruption has been committed in the construction of classrooms in Zone 25 and 29 of the South and South East districts... the Principal Secretary had questioned the PWD officers on why semi-permanent structures were being built... the Finance Secretary had also ordered an inquiry,” Mr. Tiwari added.
The BJP leader asked how additional budget allocation of ₹105 crore could be made without any written order.
“Verbal authorisation for an amount to the tune of ₹100 crore is not permitted as per CPWD manual and what we have on hand here is a clear-cut case of corruption,” Mr. Khurana said.
Meanwhile, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP allegations were a bid to “malign” the “Kejriwal model of education”, which was being hailed world over.
“Mr. Tiwari has nothing positive to speak on education and has failed to list even 10 schools of BJP-ruled States which could be compared with Delhi government schools,” Mr. Bharadwaj said.