CAG reports expose financial mismanagement and irregularities under previous government: CM Rekha Gupta
Utilisation certificates for schemes worth Rs 2,650 crore pending, only 323 submitted
45 tenders worth Rs 530 crore linked to a single PAN card during previous government’s tenure
Government has undertaken major administrative reforms for transparency and accountability in one-and-a-half years: CM Rekha Gupta
‘Pesticide’ sprayed to remove the ‘termites’ left behind by previous government: CM Rekha Gupta
New Delhi, August 2026 : On the final day of the Monsoon Session of the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta raised serious questions over financial irregularities, lapses in the implementation of schemes and lack of transparency in the government system during the previous government’s tenure while speaking on the CAG reports tabled in the House. She said the reports had not been prepared by any political party or government, but by the CAG, the country’s highest constitutional audit institution, and contained a detailed audit of the functioning of various departments and schemes. Since the present government came to power, pending CAG reports have been tabled in the Assembly, and 19 CAG reports have been placed before the House during its nearly one-and-a-half-year tenure. Action is being taken on these reports and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is also taking cognisance of them.
CAG reports are the report card of the previous government
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the two major reports tabled in the House were, in effect, a report card. The report card had been prepared neither by the Opposition nor by the present government or any political party. It had been prepared by the CAG, the country’s highest constitutional audit institution. The audit institution had laid out the complete picture of the previous government’s functioning and explained in detail how irregularities took place in the use of public money and Delhi’s funds were misused during the tenure of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government.
The Chief Minister said the previous government had left no sector or department untouched. Cases related to its tenure had emerged in the health sector, irregularities had come to light in education, and issues related to advertisements and subsidies had also surfaced. Similar irregularities had been reported in various departments, including the Delhi Jal Board and the PWD. The situation was such that irregularities were found across the process, from tendering to the disbursement of subsidies. This was a government of scams, she said, adding that people continued to suffer during its tenure without receiving any relief.
Funds were available but not spent
Referring to another important aspect of the CAG reports, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said legislators had discussed several issues raised in the reports, but the bigger point was that the previous government had funds available but had failed to fully utilise them. Citing the financial budget for 2024-25, she said the budget for that year was Rs 80,798 crore, but the actual expenditure was a matter that needed to be considered. Only around Rs 61,000 crore was spent out of the total budget, which meant that the entire amount available with the government was not spent in the interest of the people.
She said that if capital expenditure had been undertaken in the public interest, roads and flyovers could have been built, schools could have been opened and other essential development works could have been carried out. But this was not the previous government’s focus, she said. Its objective was to find ways to commit scams, siphon off money and mislead people by putting up large photographs even without doing the work. Of the nearly Rs 81,000 crore budget, around Rs 20,000 crore was left unspent, meaning a substantial portion of the money available for the people was not utilised.
Grants and subsidies received from Centre also went unused
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said Delhi also received subsidies and grants-in-aid from the Central government, but these too were not utilised as expected. She said the previous government had shown no concern for cleaning the Yamuna, removing the garbage mountains or improving Delhi’s roads. The pollution problem also persisted, but there was no effective accountability on these issues. After the previous government completed its five-year electoral term, people were again asked to give it another five years, she said. Promises continued to be made, but the work did not match expectations.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the previous government’s intentions were flawed from the very beginning. This was evident from the fact that there were 32 schemes for which expenditure of more than Rs 1,517 crore had been proposed. These schemes were included in the budget, announced and used to claim credit. Advertisements and news reports were published in newspapers, telling people how much the government had done. But when it was time for the actual results to emerge, not a single rupee was spent on these schemes.
Citing the Delhi Metro loan as an example, the Chief Minister said the Metro had become an integral part of life in Delhi. It was difficult today to imagine what Delhi would look like or how it would function without the Metro. The Central government had continued with Metro construction, but the Delhi government had not released its share on time. Funds were available in the budget, but were not utilised.
Under the PM Ayushman Bharat scheme, Rs 150 crore had been made available by the Central government to open Ayushman centres in Delhi and issue Ayushman cards to people in the city. But the amount was not utilised and the money was returned. She questioned why the funds provided by the Central government for the health of Delhi’s people were not spent. The Chief Minister said a grant-in-aid of Rs 40 crore was available for the School of Specialised Excellence, but there was zero expenditure against it. Providing books to children, preparing classrooms and ensuring better educational facilities were not priorities of the previous government, she said.
Referring to the National Food Security Act (NFSA), she said Rs 40 crore had been made available as assistance for ration distributed through ration cards, but that amount too was not utilised and the money was returned. The Chief Minister said Rs 39 crore was also available as grant-in-aid for Delhi Technical University, but that too was not utilised. She questioned why funds were not spent to upgrade colleges, pay employees and improve the functioning of institutions.
In addition, there were 34 other schemes for which approvals worth Rs 2,961 crore had been obtained, but the funds remained unspent till the last day. She said this was an example of how the previous government kept allocations in the budget, announced schemes and projected that a great deal was being done, while in reality money was not spent on the schemes.
Budget allocated for Delhi Lakshmi scheme every year, but not spent
Citing the Delhi Lakshmi scheme, the Chief Minister said the present government had resolved to implement the scheme within five years and women in Delhi were now in a position to receive its benefits. The previous government too allocated funds for the scheme in its budget every year, but the money was not utilised. Every year, women were promised that the scheme would be implemented and they would receive the money, but as elections approached, fresh promises were made. The Chief Minister said the promise was repeatedly made, but there was no effort to actually implement it on the ground.
Previous government kept people waiting for GST refunds
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the previous government’s approach to GST refunds involving public money was also unsatisfactory. Giving figures, she said GST refunds stood at only Rs 695 crore in 2024-25. After the present government came to power, Rs 1,313 crore was given as GST refunds in 2025-26. The financial year 2026-27 was not even halfway through, but the present government had already provided Rs 550 crore in GST refunds. The present government’s effort was to ensure that people’s money reached them back in a time-bound manner and that they did not have to wait for their own money, she said.
1,734 utilisation certificates linked to schemes worth Rs 19,973 crore pending
The Chief Minister said 1,734 utilisation certificates related to schemes worth around Rs 19,973 crore were pending, while only 482 of these utilisation certificates had been submitted. This situation raised serious questions about transparency in government expenditure and accountability towards the people. A utilisation certificate is required to specify when, where and how the funds were spent and whether the prescribed procedure was followed. Their pendency, therefore, affects the monitoring of the actual utilisation of funds and expenditure under schemes.
‘Pesticide’ sprayed to remove the ‘termites’ left behind by previous government
Referring to Opposition leaders, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said they were raising questions loudly in the House today on various issues, but they should also look at what happened in the departments and areas for which they had been responsible during their tenure and what facts had been brought out by the CAG reports.
The ‘termites’ that had infested the system during the previous government’s tenure were being removed by the present government, she said. Explaining it through an analogy, the Chief Minister said the present government had sprayed ‘pesticide’ to improve the system, and the irregularities from the previous government’s tenure were now coming to light in the process. She alleged that the previous government had damaged the entire system over ten years and done injustice to the people of Delhi.
More publicity than work
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the previous government used ‘aura framing’ around its schemes. A scheme would be announced, big claims would be made and an atmosphere would be created that a major piece of work was about to be undertaken, but in reality the schemes were not implemented. She said the CAG reports had shown how publicity was carried out in the name of schemes, leaders’ photographs were put up on schemes and advertisements were issued on a large scale. This publicity was not limited to Delhi, with crores of rupees being spent on advertisements across the country.
Questions over Rs 38,000-crore regulatory asset of power companies
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also referred to the issue concerning the regulatory assets of power companies. She said electricity tariffs had not been increased after 2014, resulting in a widening gap between the actual revenue from the purchase and distribution of electricity. This gap gradually accumulated in the form of a regulatory asset. The Chief Minister said the regulatory asset stood at around Rs 9,000 crore in 2019-20. It subsequently increased to Rs 27,200 crore and the gap had now reached around Rs 38,000 crore.
She clarified that this was the large financial gap that had arisen between the cost incurred by power companies to purchase electricity and the revenue received after supplying electricity to consumers. Power companies could try to pass the burden of this Rs 38,000 crore on to the people of Delhi in the future, she said, but the present Delhi government would not allow that to happen. The government was firmly standing its ground on the matter and fighting the case in court.
45 tenders worth Rs 530 crore linked to a single PAN card
Referring to irregularities in the tendering process, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said 45 tenders involving a total amount of Rs 530 crore were linked to a single PAN card. She questioned how 45 tenders involving such a large amount could have been processed through a single PAN card and at what level the entire process had been monitored. The Chief Minister said the present government was continuously undertaking administrative reforms to eliminate such practices and make the government procurement process more transparent and accountable.
Major administrative decisions to improve the system in one-and-a-half years
The Chief Minister said her government had taken several important steps to improve the system in just one-and-a-half years. She said the government had taken immediate action after reports of irregularities related to the procurement of medicines in the health sector came to light. Forty officials from the Procurement Cell were transferred on the same day and three officials were suspended.
She said around 60 days had passed since the suspension of the three officials and they were still in jail. The present government’s policy was clear: wherever an irregularity was found, the government itself would take action. The Chief Minister said 70 doctors who had been posted in jails for years and were not performing their duties in hospitals were sent to hospitals and directed to perform their designated responsibilities.
Similarly, where one Medical Superintendent (MS) had earlier been responsible for four hospitals, the government changed the arrangement and moved towards having one MS for one hospital so that hospital administration and operations could be made more effective.
The Chief Minister said 150 officials in the GST department who had been posted at the same place for years were also transferred. Their new postings were not made arbitrarily. Instead, a random posting system was put in place through a lucky draw so that officials could not choose a ward or location of their preference. She said the objective was to ensure fairness and transparency in administrative functioning.
The Chief Minister said the Delhi government had made the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) mandatory for government procurement. Procurement through GeM by departments was being reviewed regularly, and show-cause notices were being issued to departments that failed to follow the prescribed process.
She said this was strengthening transparency, competition and accountability in government procurement. At the same time, the entire administrative system of the Delhi government had been shifted to e-Office. Government files were now being processed digitally, ensuring greater transparency in decision-making and availability of records. She said the government had also brought the proposal for an e-Cabinet and the functioning of the Delhi Cabinet would soon be conducted through the e-Cabinet. The Chief Minister said the government had also installed e-POS machines at ration shops.
Effort to stop leakage of public funds by removing arbitration clause
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the arbitration clause in tenders under the previous system had, in several cases, become a means of significant leakage of public funds. She said that in many cases, contractors were asked to start work even though land acquisition, permission for cutting trees or other necessary permissions had not been completed. As a result, the work would get stalled and the contractor would go into arbitration. The present government had decided to discontinue the arbitration clause to prevent such financial leakages and irregularities and ensure the safety of Delhi’s public funds, she said.
Further action on CAG reports must be ensured
The Chief Minister urged the Speaker of the Assembly to take cognisance of the CAG reports tabled in the House and the views expressed by members on them and expedite further action, so that those responsible for doing injustice to the people of Delhi and misusing public funds could face action in accordance with the law. She said the present Delhi government was working on the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance and would leave no room in the government system for any kind of irregularity involving public money or people’s rights.
