On Saturday (August 26), Youtuber Ravish Kumar went on an unhinged rant on social media over unpaid dues to contractors for repair work ahead of the G20 Summit.
While doing so, the ‘journalist’ shrewdly avoided mention of the role of the Delhi government and insinuated that the Centre was somehow at fault. He claimed, “According to the Express report, several G20 contractors have not received payments for several months. They will stop work altogether if they do not receive payments.”
Ravish Kumar, who runs a YouTube channel now, further alleged that the National Capital would remain shut for 3 days for the completion of the repair work. He added that it would hurt the businesses of auto drivers and rickshaw pullers, thereby painting the government as anti-poor.
एक्सप्रेस की गायत्री मणि की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार G20 से जुड़े कई सौ ठेकेदारों का पेमेंट कई महीनों से नहीं हुआ है। अगर आज इन सभी का पेमेंट नहीं होगा तो काम रोक देंगे। वैसे दिल्ली तीन दिन बंद रहेगी। ऑटो और रिक्शा चलाने वालों से लेकर टैक्सी वालों की कमाई पर असर पड़ेगा ही। शहर में भयंकर… pic.twitter.com/6donLvH7Pm
— ravish kumar (@ravishndtv) August 26, 2023
He claimed that several routes would remain closed and it would take longer to travel. “The impact of such a decision on street vendors and hawkers must be introspected. Will the government compensate them for three days of missed business?” Ravish Kumar again avoided naming the AAP government in Delhi.
He then went about his usual way of virtue signalling the media, with his well-known euphemism of ‘Godi Media.’ In this way, Ravish Kumar succeeded in giving the impression that the Centre had not paid the contractors and was also causing inconvenience for the poor in Delhi.
A quick glance at The Indian Express report cited by the ‘journalist’ turned Youtuber reveals that the payments to the contractors were not made by the Public Works Department (PWD), which is run by the Delhi government.
At the very onset, the report stated, “Contractors under the Public Works Department (PWD) have threatened to stop work if their pending dues are not cleared by Saturday. The Delhi government has said that payments are under process and will be made soon.“
The role of the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government becomes clear at the very start of The Indian Express report. Despite this, Ravish Kumar avoided holding Arvind Kejriwal and his party accountable for the mess.
The report also highlighted that payments for some of the contractors were unpaid for the past 8 months. “We have been raising the matter with officials and even the (PWD) minister for several months. For how many months can we buy materials on loan? How are we supposed to pay labourers and staff and finish work in time?” a contractor had said.
A contractor named Surinder Singh informed that his daily operational cost is around ₹1-2 lakhs and that the PWD has not cleared his pending dues of ₹15-16 crores. About 300-400 contractors have been affected by the laxity of the Delhi government, who are forced to work without payments.
As such, Ravish Kumar must henceforth explicitly mention the government creating hurdles ahead of the G20 summit instead of being fixated on the media. The ‘journalist’ turned YouTuber now must seek compensation not only for the contractors but the vendors, street hawkers, and auto drivers from the Kejriwal government.
