New Delhi: Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that the AAP government has identified sites for setting up 800 “mohalla clinics” across the city. He said the government was waiting for no objection certificates (NOC) from concerned agencies like the DDA, PWD and DJB for setting up these clinics on their land.
The statement comes a day after the Delhi high court asked the Centre, the AAP government and the civic bodies to explore the possibility of setting up mohalla clinics in all parts of the city.
The court had also issued notice and directed the government and other agencies to file feasibility reports with regard to the land falling in their jurisdiction within two weeks.
“Mohalla clinic” is a flagship project of the Arvind Kejriwal government, aimed at providing free primary healthcare to city residents near their homes. “We have identified 800 sites for such clinics across the city. The government is presently waiting for NOCs from concerned agencies to provide their land for this project,” Mr Jain said.
He said there are 272 municipal wards in Delhi and three to four mohalla clinics will come up in every ward. “Once we get the NOCs, the government will start setting up these clinics,” the minister added.
According to Mr Jain, 158 mohalla clinics are presently operational in Delhi. The government has set a target of 1,000 clinics to provide better health facility to citizens in their neighbourhood.
Earlier this month, lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal had approved the AAP government’s ambitious proposal to set up additional such clinics. The L-G’s approval had come four days after 45 AAP MLAs camped outside his office for several hours, insisting clearance of the ‘mohalla clinics’ file, an act his office termed as “laying siege” to the office of a “constitutional functionary”.
Mr Baijal had in February cleared a proposal of setting up around 300 mohalla clinics in government-run schools.
The Delhi high court bench had on Wednesday warned of strict action against the authorities in case they failed to comply with the direction and file the status reports before the next date hearing on October 30. The Delhi government counsel said that the proposal for neighbourhood health facility scheme has been approved by the competent authority.
