Delhi govt constructed toilets in schools, counted them as classrooms: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Friday said the vigilance directorate's report on "irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools shows Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is only "worried about black money flowing to him and not about children's education"
At a press conference here, the BJP's national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia cited the vigilance directorate's report in the matter and alleged "corrupt Gabbar" Kejriwal colluded with private company "Babbar and Babbar" to construct classrooms without floating a tender, violating the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Public Works Department (PWD).
The Delhi government increased the scope of construction work in schools without floating any tender. They constructed toilets in schools and counted them as classrooms, Bhatia alleged.
"He (Kejriwal) is not worried about the future of the children. He only worries about one thing -- black money that is flowing to him," he alleged.
The BJP leader claimed the report shows that the private firm decided the terms and conditions for the construction of classrooms in collusion with the government.
"You did not dismiss the corrupt minister who is in jail. The vigilance report has exposed the corruption in the education department too. The Directorate of Vigilance is part of the Delhi government. Can you weak shoulders lift this burden. Can you dismiss the corrupt minister?" Bhatia said.
The vigilance directorate has recommended a probe by a "specialised agency" into alleged irregularities in the construction of classrooms for Delhi government schools, claiming it involved a "scam of Rs 1,300 crore", official sources said on Friday.
A report of the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommending the probe has been submitted to the chief secretary, they said.
The CVC, in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of over 2,400 classrooms in Delhi government schools by the PWD.
The CVC had sent the report to the Delhi government's vigilance directorate seeking its comments on the matter in February 2020.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
