AAP hits out as K’taka minister first praises mohalla clinics, later calls them ‘overhyped’
AAP said comparing Delhi’s mohalla clinics to Bengaluru’s namma clinics was misleading, as the latter only provide basic care for small ailments.
Hours after praising the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s mohalla clinic, Karnataka health minister and Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao made a very sudden volte-face and called the initiative “overhyped”, saying he was left “disappointed” after visiting one such clinic in the Capital.
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Earlier on Friday, Rao, accompanied by Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited a mohalla clinic in Panchsheel Park. All seemed well, and when the Karnataka minister exited the facility, he praised the clinics and said his purpose was to learn and implement the best points from Delhi’s primary healthcare model.
After Rao’s visit, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Karnataka health minister visits Delhi mohalla clinics. We welcome him and his team. We all have to learn from each other. Delhi will also learn from the good work done by Karnataka govt.”
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However, just hours later, Rao called the clinics “overhyped”. He tweeted, “Visited a Mohalla Clinic in Delhi with hardly any people there. Our Clinics in Karnataka have more facilities including a laboratory to do immediate tests for patients. I guess it is overhyped and I came back feeling disappointed.”
Speaking at a press conference, the Congress leader said, “There were barely any patients there. I just meant that there are other states, including our Karnataka, where we are running similar clinics for the public in a much better way.”
Rao’s abrupt change in stance led to an angry reaction from the AAP. In a statement issued on Friday evening, the party alleged, “After the visit, Gundu Rao received a phone call and he said he had to rush for a meeting and left. Just minutes later he tweeted criticising Delhi’s mohalla clinics. Only he can clarify whose call he had received and what made him first praise the mohalla clinics and then change his statement.”
AAP said comparing Delhi’s mohalla clinics to Bengaluru’s namma clinics was misleading, as the latter only provide basic care for small ailments such as fever, cold and cough.
While the two parties engaged in a war of words, the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that the AAP is in a habit of taking dignitaries from other states to mohalla clinics or schools “for their own political back patting” but it often misfires.
“Dinesh Gundu Rao’s tweet has shamed Saurabh Bhardwaj and he now owes a reply to Delhiites as to why they overhype the mohalla clinics. 90% of the Mohalla Clinics are lying in a depleted state, most don’t have a doctor on duty with a health worker or a compounder cum pharmacist running them and half the month they remain locked,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.