BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s move to promote ‘Ama Clinic’ programme in the State Capital through its social media platform ahead of the urban polls has not gone down well with the opposition parties.
After engaging officials to conduct a physical inspection of hospitals to ensure proper implementation of the health insurance scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana in all empanelled hospitals of the city, the civic body in the last one week has started focusing on proper implementation of the Ama Clinic programme.
BMC has started issuing a list of specialists who will be available from 8 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm at the urban primary health centres in the city every day to provide specialist services in O&G, Paediatrics, Medicine and Geriatrics, ENT, Physiotherapy and Psychiatry, etc.
Opposition BJP and Congress, however, dubbed it as a poll gimmick ahead of the urban elections in the city. The parties asked why it took almost five years for the civic body to promote the scheme and raise awareness on it when it is already in place since 2017.
“This is nothing but a political drama ahead of the civic polls as the government is well aware of the crippling public health system in the Capital,” said Bhubaneswar District Congress Committee president Biswajit Das.
Das alleged the move is a tactic of the government and the civic body to hide their failure in managing the Covid situation and dengue menace in the Capital in recent years. Aam Aadmi Party leaders also alleged that though the State government implemented the scheme, which is similar to Mohalla Clinic concept launched by the Delhi government in 2015, it has miserably failed in providing services and treatment to patients in urban areas.
Most of the government-run health centres in the Capital don’t have a sufficient number of doctors to offer services under Ama Clinic. Besides, those on duty are often prescribing prescriptions to patients to purchase medicine from private dispensaries, the party leaders alleged. The BJD leaders, however, termed the allegations of the opposition as baseless and said it has nothing to do with the urban polls.
A senior health official from BMC also said they have started sharing details of doctors only to streamline the implementation of the programme in the Capital.