Where are health reforms? BJP to AAP

After targeting the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government over its performance in the education sector, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday accused it of not fulfilling promises to bring in reforms in the health sector.

Leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijendra Gupta Saturday said the Arvind Kejriwal-led government had promised to spend Rs 7,500 crore on heath annually. “The AAP also promised to add 30,000 beds with all medical staff and facilities in Delhi government hospitals. It promised that the additional beds would include 4,000 maternity beds. But after 50 months of governance, it could add only 213 beds. It failed to increase even a single bed in the maternity ward,” he said.

Gupta said the AAP, in its 2015 manifesto, had promised to “remodel” public hospitals in Delhi. “During the last 50 months of its rule, the AAP failed to upgrade and remodel government hospitals. There is an acute shortage of life-saving equipment in these hospitals. The strength of medical and paramedical staff is just 50%. There is also a shortage of ventilators in hospitals. The Delhi government had itself informed the Delhi high court in February that 52 of the 400 ventilators in these hospitals are non-functional,” he said.

“The AAP government had promised 900 primary health centres (PHC) but failed to make much headway in this. Of the targeted 1,000 mohalla clinics, it could build only 188 and these clinics are working at the cost of dispensaries. The staff are being diverted from dispensaries to clinics. As a result, dispensaries are closing down,” Gupta alleged.

He slammed the government for not implementing Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi and said, “The Delhi government is neither able to provide medical facilities to Delhiites on its own nor is it implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ayushman Bharat scheme in the city. The scheme could have benefitted at least 20 lakh families of Delhi.”

Despite repeated text messages and calls to reach them, AAP leaders did not offer comment on the issue.