Gambhir offers Rs 50 lakh from MPLAD fund for medical equipment

Gautam Gambhir

East Delhi BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Monday offered Rs 50 lakh from his MPLAD fund to the Delhi government for procurement of equipment for medical staff dealing with COVID-19 cases, around two weeks after he pledged the same amount for the purpose. The Delhi government has yet to respond to his previous offer, said an aide of the cricketer-turned-politician.

"It is stated by Deputy CM Manish Sisodia that funds are needed to meet the growing demand of medical equipment in several Delhi government hospitals. In addition to Rs 50 lakh which I had pledged two weeks ago, I would further like to pledge Rs 50 lakh from my MPLAD to your kind office with the hope that the said amount would be used in procurement of equipment of medical staff as well as treatment of COVID-19 patients," Gambhir said in a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. Earlier Gambhir had accused the AAP government of "shedding crocodile tears" and playing victim card over the issue, saying he had offered Rs 50 lakh for PPE kits and masks to it but did not receive any feedback. "People would be benefited if the crores spent on advertisements from morning till evening on television were used for PPE kits. I had pledged Rs 50 lakh for PPE kits and masks but there is no feedback so far. Now they are asking the Centre.

Shedding crocodile tears and victim card are two weapons of Arvind Kejriwal," Gambhir had tweeted. Kejriwal on Saturday said that his government has asked for PPE kits from the Centre but none were received. Sisodia on Saturday had demanded a disaster fund from the Centre to fight coronavirus outbreak in Delhi, saying it was third most affected state in the country. In a letter to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he had said that the Centre released over Rs 17000 crore to the states from the Disaster fund but not a single rupee was given to Delhi. "I have demanded disaster fund for Delhi also in a letter to the Central government. The Centre released Rs 17000 crore to the states to fight corona from the disaster fund but Delhi was not given a single rupee from it. The country should fight as one at this hour. This discrimination is unfortunate," Sisodia had said in a tweet. Coronavirus cases in Delhi have crossed 500 and seven deaths have been reported due to the virus so far.

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