Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated 152 mohalla clinics on Sunday, taking the number of the neighbourhood facilities providing free primary healthcare in Delhi to 450, officials said.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain was also present at the event in Pitampura, where the Aam Aadmi Party government had built the first mohalla clinic in 2015.
The Delhi government, in a statement released after the event, claimed that the inauguration of 152 mohalla clinics has "set a world record".
A mohalla clinic is a neighbourhood facility for providing free primary healthcare to the city's residents closer home. A typical mohalla clinic has a doctor, a midwife-cum-nurse, and an array of diagnostic services and essential medicines are provided free of cost to patients there.
"Spectacular development initiatives have been possible because the people of Delhi elected a responsible and accountable government in 2015. The development bandwagon should not be stopped, but must be accelerated," the chief minister said, weeks ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
"Today is a very happy day for the people of Delhi as 152 new mohalla clinics at various places have been inaugurated.So far, there were around 300 such clinics. The total number of these clinics has now gone up to 450," Kejriwal said.
Since the launch of the facility, mohalla clinics have served two crore OPD patients and 18 lakhs tests have been conducted there until November 2019, he said.
Officials said MLAs in their respective areas also inaugurated mohalla clinics simultaneously in 43 Assembly constituencies, along with councillors and aldermen.
Kejriwal claimed that for the first time, the expansion of healthcare facilities is happening on such a large scale in the country and probably in the world.
"We had targeted to open 1,000 mohalla clinics in Delhi. Due to administrative reasons, work in this regard could resume just three-four months ago, and resumed at an accelerated speed. Within the next three-four months, remaining mohalla clinics shall be inaugurated," Kejriwal said.
He said people's faith in healthcare facility in Delhi has increased and now "even the rich visit mohalla clinics".
"In the last 70 years, different governments in Delhi built made available 10,000 beds in government hospitals," the chief minister said. He said the government is working to expand the facility to add 15,000 new hospital beds. "The foundation stones for many big hospitals have been laid," the AAP supremo said.
"Initially, we constructed around 150 such clinics. Later, we faced so many difficulties and roadblocks to expand this project. As Satyendar Jain told you, files were pending for one to two years. Then the Supreme Court judgment came in between and it eased the process of opening new clinics," Kejriwal added.
Sincethe AAP-led government improved city hospitals in terms of infrastructure and cleanliness, and treatment and made medicines free, the turnout of patients has now "doubled to six crore annually", he said.
"Just now Satyendar Jain told you that mohalla clinics will find a place in Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of Records. If people are happy, I would be happy. It is my Guinness world record, I don't require anything more than that," Kejriwal was quoted as saying in the statement.
In five years, the Delhi government could transform education, healthcare, and transport and made electricity and water available free, why such changes are not possible across the country, he asked.
"Now you should not stop the development. People of Delhi flagged off a new bandwagon of development in the previous Delhi election. Now it runs at a speed of 100 kmph, don't press the brake, you should accelerate its speed to 200 kmph, Kejriwal said.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
