The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, which has been receiving a lot of criticism over the handling of coronavirus pandemic in Delhi, on Saturday stoked a massive controversy after it attempted to politicise the issue of newly built Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital in Delhi.
On Saturday, India’s largest facility for coronavirus patients, the Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital, Chattarpur became operational in Delhi. The 10,000-bed COVID facility, which has been set up inside the Radha Soami Satsang Beas facility in Delhi, was operationalised after Union Home Ministry Amit Shah took control the affairs of the national capital, which had seen a massive rise in the number of coronavirus cases.
The ITBP, which managed to build the facility at Delhi within a short span of time, will also be responsible for the operation of the 10,000-bed facility.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party, which had almost given up the coronavirus fight in Delhi, soon jumped to take the credit for the newly built coronavirus facility despite the Arvind Kejriwal-led government had a very limited role to play in setting up the facility.
On Saturday, AAP took to twitter to share the video of the newly built Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital in Chattarpur to claim that the first set of 2,000 beds out of the 10,000 beds in the facility, which got operationalised today was built by the Kejriwal government.
Out of 10,000 beds, 2000 beds have been made operational at the newly established COVID Care Centre at Radha Soami Satsang Beas Centre.
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 26, 2020
This is the world’s largest COVID Care facility built by the Kejriwal Govt. pic.twitter.com/ox3sg3W8ay
The Aam Aadmi Party leaders not only hijacked the credit for the facility but also went on to mock the BJP government at the centre for naming it after Sardar Patel.
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to mock the BJP on Saturday and claim that the union government only built statues in the name of Sardar Patel while Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government built the newly built coronavirus facility.
लौह पुरुष सरदार बल्लभ भाई पटेल की स्मृति में @ArvindKejriwal सरकार ने बनवाया दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा कोविड अस्पताल भाजपाईयों ने बनवाई मूर्ति केजरीवाल ने बनवाया अस्पताल। pic.twitter.com/IrmJJ9Jqdz
— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) June 27, 2020
The claim by the AAP and its leaders that it was the Delhi government which built the coronavirus facility was not only rebuked by the social media users but also reminded the Arvind Kejriwal government of its failure to handle the epidemic which resulted in Union Home Ministry setting up such facility in such a short time. Several people on Twitter also claimed that if it was actually built by the AAP govt, it would not have been named after Sardar Patel.
It is important to note that the Sardar Patel Covid Centre and Hospital, Chattarpur was set up by Home Ministry with the help of ITBP after the Arvind Kejriwal-led government struggled with a high number of coronavirus cases, with over 74,000 infected persons since the outbreak. The work on setting up the hospital was started after Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal inspected the campus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur in Delhi on 14th June.
Importantly, the ITBP has been tasked by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to provide the medical staff and support to the coronavirus care centre at Radha Soami Beas Chattarpur, New Delhi. The Radha Soami Beas Chattarpur is providing the campus, housing and other assistance including food.
The Delhi government will only providing all administrative support to the coronavirus facility.
Reportedly, in the beginning, only 2,000 patients will be treated, for which a team of 160 doctors, mostly from Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and ITBP, will be deployed on a weekly rotation. The number will be later increased to 1,000 doctors over time. Each doctor will have three to four nursing assistants to ensure proper treatment.
