Spend on healthcare instead of ad blitzkrieg, BJP tells AAP govt in Punjab

BJP leader Subhash Sharma said that PGIMER, Chandigarh, refusing to admit patients was due to failure of the Punjab government to clear the dues

CHANDIGARH : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for what it called was the failure of the ruling party to provide basic healthcare to people for lack of funds.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subhash Sharma on Wednesday lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab for what it called was the failure of the ruling party to provide basic healthcare to people for lack of funds.

“Instead of spending hundreds of crores of rupees in other states like Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the AAP government should have spent money on paying dues to various hospitals who are now refusing to admit patients,” state BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said in a statement.

The BJP leader said that PGIMER, Chandigarh, refusing to admit patients was due to failure of the Punjab government to clear the dues was a matter of concern.

Sharma disclosed that even other major hospitals, both in government as well as private sector, had stopped treating patients from Punjab since payments were due for last seven months and the state government had defaulted, he added.

The BJP leader stated that it was “unfortunate that due to gross incompetence of the AAP government”, people of Punjab were not getting the benefit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Sharma urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann that “instead of splurging funds on advertisements to fight elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, better take care of the health of Punjabis who are not able to get treatment in any hospital, including the PGIMER.”