Delhi Health Secretary Chandrakar Bharti has defended his absence from crucial meetings chaired by Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain by claiming that he was never informed. On Thursday, October 20, Bharti even clarified that no tensions prevailed between him and the minister.
This is not the first time that Bharti has made news for no good reasons. His list of controversies started when he was first caught for the postponement of the draft about Chinese manja ban. The second instance that created controversy was when he was on leave during the major outbreak of chikungunya and dengue in the national capital.
Bharti has also presented a reason behind his absence when the dengue and chikungunya outbreak was at its peak. He claims that his wife was operated and he was sick too.
According to reports, Bharti was found absent from a number of meetings from October 3 to October 19.
The October 19 meeting missed by Bharti was regarding fire safety in government hospitals. The minutes of the meeting recorded that Bharti could not attend the meeting as he was busy in discussions with principal secretary from the Department of Law.
The issue became severe when the news of Bharti's absence from last week's meeting regarding setting up of mohalla clinics near night shelters at four places became public.
On this, Bharti stated that he was not kept in loop about this and many other meetings, in fact he found about the meetings from media.
"If I was in a meeting and could not attend another meeting, I would depute the senior officers concerned. Governance is not person-centric, it is outcome-oriented. I am a bureaucrat and will work in the department I am posted in. So, why will I miss a meeting? However, there have been instances when I was not aware of a meeting," Bharti was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
