Ad spend of ₹30-cr on Aam Aadmi Clinics in Punjab is public money: Daljit Cheema

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to explain why his government needed ₹30 crore to advertise Mohalla clinics , for which the total project cost is ₹10 crore, if it was a “successful model”.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to explain why his government needed ₹30 crore to advertise Mohalla clinics , for which the total project cost is ₹10 crore, if it was a “successful model”.

Cheema said on one hand the chief minister was touting Mohalla clinics as a success with 10 lakh people having benefited from them. (HT file photo)

In a statement here, senior SAD leader, Daljit Singh Cheema said on one hand the chief minister was touting Mohalla clinics as a success with 10 lakh people having benefited from them. “If this was so why was the government not confident that Punjabis would spread the good word around,” added Cheema.

Mohalla clinics have failed in Delhi and Punjab but the state government was trying to sell this model in other states at the expense of the Punjab exchequer. “The government is even threatening and implicating ex-health secretary who refused to approve ₹30 crore publicity proposal,” added Cheema. He said publicising the Aam Aadmi Clinics was rebranding of dispensaries and is driven by political agenda of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.