Hours after praising the AAP government's Mohalla Clinic initiative, Health Minister Karnataka and Parliament Leader Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday said they were "over-hyped" and that they were "disappointed". after a visit to one of these establishments.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in a statement, alleges that Rao received a phone call after praising the Mohalla clinic's initiative and then changed his mind.
AAP said Rao alone could explain why his statement went from praising the Mohalla clinic to being critical, AAP said, adding that it was "regrettable".
Parliament and AAP are members of the Indian opposition bloc. On Friday, Rao visited the 'Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic' in Panchsheel Park. He was accompanied by Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and doctor Karnataka Bhavan Karthik, according to an official statement.
Nearly four hours after welcoming the mohalla clinic's initiative, Gundu Rao is back.
“I visited a mohalla clinic in Delhi which was almost empty. Our clinics in Karnataka have more facilities, including laboratories, to conduct immediate testing of patients,” said Parliament. During the visit, Minister Karnataka viewed the facilities of the Mohalla clinic and inquired about the welfare of the staff.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the mohalla clinic in Panchsheel Park, Rao praised the Mohalla Clinic's model and said it was working "very well". “I had heard a lot about mohalla clinics and wanted to see them in person. I want to discuss how they (the AAP government) implement health policies,” he told reporters.
“In southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, health is always a top priority. Every state has something good we can learn from. We have something similar (like the Mohalla clinic)…we have 'namma clinic'. We wanted to see how we could improve our system. I have seen Mohalla Clinic and it works great. People love it too,” he said.
The AAP said the comparison between the mohalla clinic and the namma clinic was "unfair".
“Dinesh Gundu Rao received a phone call. After the call, he mentioned an important meeting and left the place. Moments later, he tweeted criticizing the Mohalla clinic. However, only Dinesh Rao can explain why his statement went from praising the Mohalla clinic to criticizing it after the phone call.
“In his tweet, he stated that Namma Clinic in Karnataka has better infrastructure than Mohalla Clinic. To verify this claim, the Karnataka group of the Aam Aadmi Party visited a Namma clinic in their constituency.
“They discovered that the Namma clinic and the original medical center were next to each other. People say that the original medical center was closed for a long time. Namma Clinic is, in fact, just a name. It was initiated by the BJP government. The clinic only provides primary treatment for certain diseases such as fever. Patients are being transferred to other hospitals…” AAP said. AAP said the comparison between the Namma clinic and the Mohalla clinic in Delhi was unfair, adding that the Mohalla clinics are well equipped and the treatment is provided free of charge.
Rao's claim that the Namma Clinic's infrastructure is superior to that of the Mohalla Clinic is "false". He believes that Namma Clinic lacks good facilities.
