Karnataka minister questions Delhi Mohalla clinic ‘hype’; AAP claims ‘praise’ turned to criticism after ‘phone call’

Reacting to Rao’s assessment and terming it “bizarre”, the AAP claimed he was all praise and had remarked that the clinic was “functioning effectively” before he “received a phone call” prior to criticising it.

Established on lines similar to mohalla clinics, ‘Namma clinics’ are aimed at extending primary healthcare facilities to residential neighbourhoods free of cost.

After the visit, Bharadwaj had tweeted: “Positive initiative by the Government of Karnataka and Delhi! In order to further improve the Namma Clinic of Karnataka, today at Panchsheel Park, Delhi, the Health Minister @dineshgrao of the Government of Karnataka visited the Mohalla Clinic of the Government @ArvindKejriwal and invited me to visit Karnataka.”

This was followed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcoming Congress-ruled Karnataka’s health minister and his team seeking to underline that both governments would learn from each other. “Delhi will also learn from the good work done by the Karnataka government,” the AAP convenor stated.

Rao, however, questioned both footfall of patients at the clinic as well as the facilities on offer compared to his home state. “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,” he tweeted.

The AAP said it later sent a team from its Karnataka unit to “verify” how well a Namma Clinic in his own civic ward was functioning, only to find it wanting in crucial respects. “Namma Clinic, in reality, is just a name. It was initiated by the BJP government. The clinic provides only primary treatment for some illnesses like fever. Patients are referred to other hospitals, including Kesi General Hospital, from there,” the AAP stated on the basis of its Karnataka’s unit’s assessment.

The AAP also suggested that Karnataka’s Health Minister “visit Ward 94’s Namma Clinic in his own constituency” and assess the quality of healthcare services being provided.

“Namma Clinic has hygiene issues, while the operations of Mohalla Clinics are monitored by a private agency. The claim made by the Health Minister (Rao) that Namma Clinic’s infrastructure is superior to Mohalla Clinics is false and misleading,” the AAP stated.

BJP points to ‘fractures’ in opposition unity

Meanwhile, the BJP was quick to utilise the opportunity to raise questions on the larger issue of opposition unity. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the Karnataka Health Minister had “exposed all falsehoods” about mohalla clinics, causing embarrassment for the AAP which is part of the INDIA alliance along with Congress.

“The truth about their claims has been revealed, and the facade of opposition unity has also been exposed… Rao was taken to the highly publicised mohalla clinic in the posh colony of Panchsheel Park… AAP leaders made false statements that a minister from Karnataka’s Congress government visited our mohalla clinic to learn, while Gundu Rao didn’t say anything like that,” he alleged.