Recently, BJP leader and MP Manoj Tiwari and Delhi BJP state president Adesh Gupta, including several media personnel, visited the proposed construction site of a hospital in Delhi’s Kirari Assembly constituency. Accusing the Delhi government of corruption, they claimed that a hospital supposed to be functional in Kirari does not exist even as media outlets reported that a 458-bed hospital was operating since June 28, 2020. Several media outlets amplified the claim. Among them were Zee News, Hindustan, Patrika, and The Hindu.
Delhi BJP state president Adesh Gupta tweeted a video of the proposed hospital’s construction site in Kirari. He claimed that according to the Kejriwal government, a 458-bed hospital in Kirari has been completed as per official records on June 28, 2020. But there was no hospital to be found when he visited the area. Targeting CM Kejriwal, he asked whether the land or the sky “swallowed” the hospital. (Archive link)
केजरीवाल सरकार के अनुसार कागजों में 28 जून 2020 को किराड़ी में 458 bed का अस्पताल बनकर तैयार हो चुका है। आज जब सांसद @ManojTiwariMP जी के साथ किराड़ी जाकर देखा, तो यहां अस्पताल तो दूर उसकी एक ईंट तक नहीं है।
.@ArvindKejriwal जी बताएं कि कहां है वो अस्पताल, जमीन खा गई या आसमान? pic.twitter.com/IV7yMQN0et
— Adesh Gupta (@adeshguptabjp) June 22, 2022
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya also made a similar claim while tweeting this video. He said that according to the Delhi chief minister, a 458-bed hospital had been set up in Kirari and as per the PWD (NCT Government) website, the construction work had been completed on June 27, 2020. But in reality, the hospital existed only on paper. He accused AAP of running a scam worth Rs 1,256 crore. (Archive link)
According to Delhi CM Kejriwal, a 458 bed hospital has been set up in Kirari and as per PWD (Govt of NCT) website, the work has been completed on 27Jun2020. But the hospital exists only on paper! This is a 1,256 crore scam by the AAP.
Where did the money go, Arvind Kejriwal? pic.twitter.com/cvq3f4xdyS
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 22, 2022
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari made the claim on Twitter. (Archive link)
आज हम किराड़ी के 458 बेड वाले हॉस्पिटल को देखने गये.. सच्चाई हैरान करनेवाली मिली.. ना कोई स्थाई अस्पताल ना ही अस्थाई.. pic.twitter.com/28kLQ56xce
— Manoj Tiwari 🇮🇳 (@ManojTiwariMP) June 22, 2022
BJP Delhi’s official handle also amplified the claim. Several BJP leaders including Neelkant Bakshi, Ashwini Upadhyay, Nighat Abbas, and several social media users promoted it.
Fact-check
Alt News reached out to Kirari Aam Aadmi Party MLA Rituraj Govind who said that Manoj Tiwari’s claim about the Kirari hospital being completed in June 2020 was completely false. Govind added that on August 4, 2020, he met Delhi minister Satyendra Jain and submitted a letter detailing a need for a hospital in Kirari. The MLA also shared the link to a Facebook post from the same day where he spoke about the meeting with Jain.
The Kirari MLA explained that the process of allotting land for the hospital began after he submitted the letter. Following this, on February 10, 2021, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) allotted a plot for the construction. On March 22, 2021, they received the possession slip for the land. Govind also shared with us the allotment and possession documents of the hospital plot.
A press notice on the website of the PWD of Delhi related to the proposed hospital states that the deadline for tender applications for the construction was August 11, 2021.
We then performed a search using the tender’s NIT number, 04 /CE/Health/PWD/2021-22, and were led to websites that track tenders. For instance, Free State Tenders and Tenders on Time. The tender in question is dated July 28, 2021 on these websites. Furthermore, the deadline for filing the tender was August 11, 2021. Alt News also found a report by ABP News from July 31, 2021, about the tender. This makes it evident that the tender for the 458-bed hospital in Kirari was out in July-August 2021.
A hospital with a tender application deadline of August 11, 2021, could not possibly have been constructed by June 27, 2020. Thus, several BJP leaders and supporters of the party promoted a misleading claim on social media about a proposed hospital in Kirari, Delhi. They falsely claimed that according to the documents available on the PWD website, this hospital had been constructed in 2020 itself. However, Alt News’s investigation found that the documents on PWD’s website, in fact, refute this claim.
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people contribute towards the same. Please consider donating in support of this endeavour to fight misinformation and disinformation.
To make an instant donation, click on the “Donate Now” button above. For information regarding donation via Bank Transfer/Cheque/DD, click here.