Saurabh Bharadwaj interview: ‘24×7 water supply in East and Northeast Delhi, mohalla clinics in Metro stations’

I view health and urban development as the most significant departments to be assigned to me. We have always considered health to be a flagship department for us… Delhi sees heavy footfall of patients at its hospitals mainly due to lack of adequate healthcare facilities in neighbouring states. Patients from other states coming to Delhi for treatment is a good thing as they serve as ambassadors of goodwill on our behalf. This is the case with all our hospitals near state borders, whether near Haryana or UP. Earlier, a lot of good schemes in place at our government hospitals were working very efficiently but these slowed down to an extent over the last few months, such as the referral scheme under which our hospitals referred patients in need to private hospitals or labs. We will try to ensure schemes like this pick up pace.

What will be your priorities regarding medical facilities for the poor in Delhi?

We will seek to streamline schemes and facilities for EWS patients, who are genuinely in need but cannot afford medical treatment, but are not able to because of lack of availability of beds. It will be my effort to ensure the proper utilisation of such beds. I remember an instance from the time I was on the petitions committee (of the Delhi Assembly); we went to a private hospital where there were 22 EWS beds…the hospital told us that it was spending Rs. 90 on each patient per day…they were all ‘fever’ patients…we asked all the patients where they were from and were told they were from Madanpur Khadar. Then we realised that there is a doctor at Madanpur Khadar who had an ‘arrangement’ with the hospital which was that he would refer patients with big or small ailments to the hospital to fill their EWS beds so that they would not have to cater to, say, a brain tumour patient and provide them treatment for free like they are supposed to. It is tough to find a solution for this, but it is possible. It is going to be our endeavour to fix this problem. Those eligible for such treatment should get it. We are in the process of constructing seven more hospitals, and we will try to speed up this process which suffered due to COVID.

What do you intend to do regarding the flagship mohalla clinics programme?

We have to create more mohalla clinics… We will also create more mahila mohalla clinics, which has found a lot of support among people. In the past few months, we have been in talks regarding construction of clinics at Metro stations; as many as 30 sites have been identified for these… Some teething problems have surfaced regarding this which I will attempt to iron out especially before the G-20 Summit.

Why at metro stations instead of creating more of such clinics in residential areas?

These clinics will be inside the station premises and will be able to cater to service class people who do not have times to seek treatment given the nature of their jobs. They will especially be beneficial for people who do not have access to Mohalla Clinics in their neighbourhoods where there isn’t enough space for them. There is a significant footfall of patients they can cater to at Metro stations.

How do you plan to tackle water scarcity this summer?

We will try to ensure areas that don’t get any water supply at all are able to get it at least every alternate day. Some areas, for instance, lie at the tail end of the supply chain and no matter the duration, water does not reach them. We will put in place reforms and affect rationalisation to ensure these areas get some supply. We have been making efforts for this for the last month and a half; each MLA, including those from BJP, as well as DJB officials from the area have been asked to bring us their plans regarding problem areas in their jurisdiction… this has been done for around 62 Assembly segments. On 24×7 water supply, tenders should be floated within 2-3 weeks to ensure this in the whole of East and Northeast Delhi.

How do you plan to avoid tussles between the government and L-G office?

We will seek the L-G sahab’s full cooperation. Recently, in the health sector, it was seen that those part of public service-oriented tasks such as mohalla clinic doctors, employees of testing and diagnostic centres, and those manning OPD counters at hospitals faced issues with disbursal of salaries or did not receive them on time… or such individuals were abruptly chucked out of their jobs. We found some government officers, who decided to discontinue them without putting any alternative arrangements in place, were behind this. We will write to the L-G sahab regarding such officers and seek action.

How do you plan to tackle instances where bureaucrats bypass the government, which you’ve raised?

One of the foundational tenets of the legal procedure is recording all instances which may be against legal provisions… When the right time arrives, such an individual will receive the punishment they deserve. This is the beauty of the system. Let them bypass it, we will maintain a documentary trail of all such instances where they have bypassed rules and Constitution. Whenever there is an opportunity to take the matter up on the right forum, I will ensure, in my personal capacity, that they are punished.

What are your priorities regarding the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which falls under your jurisdiction as Urban Development minister?

Solid waste management in the city is our main priority – waste segregation at the source, like it is done in many cities across the country, is part of this. Along with this, the treatment of legacy waste is another priority.