Karnataka Minister Praises Delhi’s Mohalla Clinics, Then Does A U-Flip

Dinesh Gundu Rao visited a Mohalla Clinic in Delhi.

New Delhi:

Hours after praising the AAP authorities’s Mohalla Clinic initiative, Karnataka Well being Minister and Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday stated it’s “overhyped” and he was left “disillusioned” after a go to to at least one such facility.

The Aam Aadmi Celebration (AAP), in a press release, alleged that Mr Rao obtained a telephone name after praising the mohalla clinic initiative and thereafter modified his stance.

Mr Rao alone can make clear why his assertion modified from praising the mohalla clinic to criticising it, the AAP stated, including it was “unlucky”.

The Congress and the AAP are members of the opposition INDIA bloc.

On Friday, Mr Rao visited an ‘Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic’ at Panchsheel Park in Delhi. He was accompanied by Delhi Well being Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Karnataka Bhavan medical officer Karthik, in accordance with an official assertion.

Nearly 4 hours after praising the mohalla clinic initiative, Gundu Rao made a U-turn.

“Visited a mohalla clinic in Delhi with hardly any folks there. Our clinics in Karnataka have extra amenities, together with a laboratory, to do rapid assessments for sufferers,” the Congress chief tweeted. “I assume it’s overhyped and I got here again feeling disillusioned,” he stated on Twitter.

In the course of the go to, the Karnataka minister noticed the amenities on the mohalla clinic and enquired concerning the welfare of staffers.

Talking to reporters throughout his go to to the Panchsheel Park mohalla clinic, Mr Rao had praised the mohalla clinic mannequin and stated that it’s functioning “very nicely”.

“I had heard loads about mohalla clinics and I needed to see them personally. I needed to debate how they (AAP authorities) are implementing the well being insurance policies,” he had instructed reporters.

“In southern states corresponding to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, well being has at all times been a precedence. Each state has received one thing good that we are able to be taught from. We’ve got one thing related (to mohalla clinics)… we have now ‘namma clinics’. We needed to see how we are able to enhance our system. I noticed the mohalla clinic and it’s functioning very nicely Individuals are additionally appreciating it,” he had stated.

The AAP stated the comparability between the mohalla clinic and namma clinic is “unjust”.

“Dinesh Gundu Rao obtained a telephone name. Following the decision, he talked about an vital assembly and left the placement. Some time later, he tweeted criticising the mohalla clinic. Nevertheless, solely Dinesh Rao can make clear why his assertion modified from praising the mohalla clinic to criticising it after the telephone name.

“In his tweet, he claimed that Namma Clinic in Karnataka had higher infrastructure than Mohalla Clinic. To confirm this declare, Aam Aadmi Celebration’s Karnataka workforce visited a Namma Clinic in his constituency.

“They discovered that each Namma Clinic and Major Well being Centre have been situated adjoining to one another. Individuals talked about that the Major Well being Centre had been closed for a very long time. Namma Clinic, in actuality, is only a identify. It was initiated by the BJP authorities. The clinic gives solely major therapy for some diseases like fever. Sufferers are referred to different hospitals…,” the AAP stated.

The comparability between Namma Clinic and Delhi’s Mohalla Clinic is unjust, the AAP stated, including mohalla clinics are well-equipped and therapy is supplied freed from value.

The declare made by Rao that Namma Clinic’s infrastructure is superior to Mohalla Clinic is “false”. Namma Clinic lacks good amenities, it alleged.

The Delhi authorities’s mohalla clinic is a neighbourhood facility for offering free major healthcare to residents. The mohalla clinic programme is among the many flagship initiatives of the Arvind Kejriwal authorities to spice up the first healthcare system in Delhi.

In his interplay with reporters throughout his go to to the Panchsheel Park mohalla clinic, the Congress minister was additionally requested whether or not this go to was deliberate since they’re allies now, to which he stated it is a “division” matter and never a “political” one.

“Alliance is a special problem and a political one. We are going to go to different states. Rajasthan has a well being coverage. It may be a BJP state additionally (the place we are able to go to). That’s the idea of federalism,” he stated.

Slamming the BJP-led Centre, he stated that it “is making a scenario the place this method of working collectively is getting misplaced”.

“They have a look at opposition-ruled states as enemies. Politically they provide hassle they usually even hassle the state governments. The (companies) ordinance is overruling folks’s points. If you happen to weaken an elected authorities it weakens democracy. Alternate of views is one thing that’s good and needs to be carried out at all times. I’ve additionally prolonged invitation to Delhi well being minister to see what’s being carried out on varied fronts (in Karnataka),” he instructed reporters.

Mr Bharadwaj stated his Karnataka counterpart instructed him about how good the hospitals are within the southern state. “We may even go to his state. All states ought to be taught from one another. I’m very completely happy that they’ve come right here,” he stated.

Earlier within the day, quote-tweeting Mr Bharadwaj’s tweets on Gundu Rao’s go to, Mr Kejriwal had stated Delhi will be taught from the nice work carried out by the Karnataka authorities.

“Karnataka well being minister visits Delhi mohalla clinics. We welcome him and his workforce. All of us need to be taught from one another. Delhi may even be taught from the nice work carried out by Karnataka govt,” he had tweeted.

Presently, there are greater than 500 mohalla clinics within the nationwide capital that provide free major healthcare companies to sufferers, together with 212 several types of medical assessments.