Punjab is known for its agricultural land and farmers. The residents of the state are unable to afford the best healthcare facilities either due to lack of funds or due to lack of available facilities. These Mohalla clinics will provide the best health services to the underserved population, this will definitely reduce the burden on government hospitals.
Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra on Tuesday said 109 mohalla clinics will be set up by the end of this financial year in the state. The Bhagwant Mannled government will operationalise 75 ‘Aam Aadmi clinics’ on August 15, he said.
The ‘Aam Aadmi Clinic’ project will provide the best health services to people and they are going to be functional from August 15 across the state, he said in a statement here. “By the end of this fiscal year, 109 mohalla clinics will be set up to ensure that the common man will not remain deprived of basic health facilities in the state,” he said. After the opening of ‘Aam Aadmi clinics’, people will get treatment near their houses. They will visit big hospitals only if they will be undergoing any major surgery, he stated. Consequently, these clinics will reduce the burden on the government hospitals across the state, said the health minister.
He hit back at opposition parties, accusing them of trying to defame the AAP government with baseless allegations over the issue of ‘mohalla clinics’. The AAP government led by Mann is committed to transforming the health system and eradicating corrupt practices to facilitate the people of Punjab, he said. These clinics are not only being whitewashed but the AAP government will also provide outpatient care for a range of common illnesses, first aid for injuries, dressing and management of minor wounds at the doorstep of the people by doctors, he said. He further said referral and subsequent follow-up for specialized care will be done through these clinics. Essential drugs and tests will also be made available free of cost in these clinics, he said.
The Congress on Monday had questioned the logic and rationale behind setting up of ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ in Punjab, saying it already has a nationally and internationally acknowledged robust and vibrant healthcare system.
“There are already thousands of better equipped and better staffed government run dispensaries across the state, which the AAP government wants to replace with such clinics, which have already failed in Delhi,” Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had said. People really do not need refurbished ‘Suvidha’ centres as their first-aid centers, when they have easy access to better facilities across the state, Warring had said.
Earlier, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had asked CM Mann to stop trying to “befool” people by changing name plates of buildings and schemes. The party had slammed the government for trying to secure cheap publicity by converting ‘Suvidha Kendras’ established by the erstwhile SAD government, into ‘Aam Aadmi clinics’. The party had said that these ‘Suvidha Kendras’ were established to provide citizen-centric services under one roof to the people of the state.
