August 9, 2025

Delhi’s political drama heats up as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta launched a fierce attack on the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Friday. She accused them of having an “anti-worker mindset” and demanded a serious investigation into why a whopping ₹5,200 crore from the labour welfare fund sat unused for years, while thousands of hardworking construction workers awaited their rightful benefits. Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Ms. Gupta did not hold back. She urged that this scandalous issue be handed over to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a thorough probe. “The ₹5,200 crore remained idle while the working class waited for relief,” she thundered during a discussion on the latest Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which focused on the 'Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers' for the year ending March 31, 2023. She slammed the previous government for depriving lakhs of workers from their entitled welfare schemes. Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta responded by referring this CAG report, along with two others presented in the House on August 4, to the PAC for detailed examination. Ms. Gupta also pointed out a sneaky fee trap set by the earlier government. While the Central government offers free registration and renewal for workers, the AAP regime charged ₹25 for registration and ₹20 for renewal, adding needless stress on workers. This led to a shocking result—only 7% of workers’ data were renewed yearly in Delhi, versus a perfect 100% renewal rate nationally. Highlighting excerpts from the CAG report, Ms. Gupta named various welfare schemes like maternity benefits, disability aid, tool purchases, housing help, family pensions, accident compensation, and skill training. She revealed these funds either stayed untouched or were barely used for years. Not staying silent, AAP MLA Virendra Kadian hit back. He accused the BJP of cherry-picking CAG report sections to bash the previous government unfairly. He reminded that the report covered a tough four-year stretch including the COVID-19 pandemic, when many migrant workers left Delhi. He proudly noted that during that time, the Kejriwal government gave ₹5,000 financial help to each registered worker. The battle lines are clearly drawn as Delhi’s political arena braces for more fireworks over worker welfare. Will the PAC uncover the truth behind the idle ₹5,200 crore? Only time will tell!

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Tags: Delhi, Labour welfare fund, Rekha gupta, Aap, Cag report, Construction workers,