New Delhi: In a big boost to the Aam Aadmi Party government’s mohalla clinics project, lieutenant- governor Anil Baijal has cleared the AAP government’s ambitious proposal of setting up around 300 such clinics in government-run schools, but asked it to take NOC from civic agencies in a bid to ensure that no laid-down rules of Education Act are flouted.
The LG has asked for hiring well-qualified doctors and said that no laid-down rules of Education Act should be flouted while setting up mohalla clinics on school premises. According to an official, as the proposal has been okayed by the L-G, work on setting up mohalla clinics will begin soon.
In November, Mr Baijal’s predecessor Najeeb Jung had sent back the file relating to the proposal, citing certain clauses of the Delhi School Education Act under which school premises can be used only for academic purposes.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had then urged Mr Jung to invite him and power minister Satyendra Jain for a discussion to resolve the issue. The aim of opening mohalla clinics on school premises is to provide free primary healthcare to students as well as general public.
“Lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal has cleared the proposal to open around 300 mohalla clincs on premises of Delhi government’s schools. The health department will now start working on setting up such clinics,” a senior government official said. The proposal was okayed by the L-G in mid-January.
The official also said that these clinics will have an entry point for general public from outside, restricting unauthorised entry to the school. “As these (mohalla) clinics will be set up on school premises, lieutenant-governor has asked the government to ensure safety and security of students and also no unauthorised persons could enter the school.”
“Apart from this, LG has also asked government to take NOC from concerned agencies including MCD before setting up mohalla clinics,” sources said.
The government has also been asked by the LG office that no rules of Delhi School Education Act should be flouted while setting up such clinics.
“The LG office has granted a ‘right to use’ the land of government schools for setting up mohalla clinics. However, the city administration cannot build hospitals on such land in the future,” sources said. The government had earlier announced that 1,000 mohalla clinics would be established by December 31 but the deadline was pushed to March this year.
Mohalla clinics are being run by the Delhi government that aim to provide free primary healthcare to all. Currently, around 109 mohalla clinics are operational in the national Capital, treating almost 2,500 patients every day.
