Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta has appointed the chairpersons of the three financial committees for the year 2025-26.
According to an official order, Ajay Mahawar has been designated as the head of the Committee on Public Accounts, Gajender Drall has been named Chairperson of the Committee on Government Undertakings, and Harish Khurana will lead the Committee on Estimates.
The appointments come at a crucial time as financial oversight remains a key responsibility of the Delhi Assembly, particularly amid concerns raised in the latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on air pollution control measures.
CAG Report Highlights Irregularities in Pollution Testing
The CAG report on 'Prevention of Air Pollution from Vehicles,' presented in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, has pointed to significant lapses in pollution testing and enforcement measures, raising concerns over the effectiveness of the system.
According to the report, Pollution Checking Centres (PCCs) in Delhi have been issuing an excessive number of Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCCs), including for vehicles that failed to meet emission norms.
This has raised serious doubts over the reliability of pollution testing mechanisms and enforcement measures in the capital.
One of the key findings of the report revealed that emission data was not being properly recorded in the central database. Despite Supreme Court directives, no link had been established between emission data and the National Database of Vehicles (VAHAN).
This allowed PCCs to manually select a vehicle’s BS emission standard, increasing the risk of data manipulation and improper certification.
Political Reactions to the CAG Report
AAP MLA and former Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai defended the Delhi government, asserting that the CAG report did not contain any references to corruption. He accused BJP leaders of scrutinising the document in search of corruption allegations but failing to find any.
“The CAG report on air pollution, which has been presented in the assembly, is being examined by BJP leaders to find corruption, but not a single line indicating corruption has been found so far," Rai stated.
"The report instead highlights that the AAP government was the only one that successfully curbed air pollution through schemes like the Odd-Even scheme.”
Rai further claimed that under the AAP government, Delhi’s air quality had improved significantly, with the number of "good air quality" days increasing to 208 out of 365 in a year.
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