Delhi health minister Kiran Walia continued to face tough time in the Assembly on Tuesday with even Speaker Yoganand Shastri singling her out for giving the wrong answer during Question Hour.
Ms Walia’s ordeal continued on second day in the House as Congress MLAs again cornered her for not giving satisfactory answers to their questions. After Congress MLA Devendra Yadav sought to know why there was a delay in the construction of a hospital in the Siruspur area in his constituency even two-and-a-half years of laying down the foundation, Ms Walia’s remarks that the work was stuck due to legal hurdle invited the ire of the legislators. Even the Speaker was moved to say that the minister was not giving the right answer. “It reflects poorly on previous government when the foundation was laid down if you say that there was a legal problem. How could then the previous government would have approved the project. There is no court stay. Your reply is not satisfactory,” remarked Dr Shastri.
After the Speaker’s snub, Ms Walia stated that somebody is now claiming ownership to the land on which the hospital has to come up, which was refuted by the Congress MLAs. Later, Dr Shastri directed that the minister along with Mr Yadav make a site inspection before December 10.
Congress MLA Ramakant Goswami in a veiled attack asked Ms Walia, “How many years it will take to construct a hospital after laying of the foundation stone?”.