NEW DELHI: Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Thursday said that the Mohalla clinic-based healthcare model of Delhi was not suitable for a large state such as Gujarat. Speaking in the Gujarat Assembly, Patel, who holds the health portfolio, also said, without naming the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, that people from the national capital come here for better treatment.
He was responding to a question by BJP MLA Kishorsinh Chauhan who wanted to know the difference between a mohalla clinic, which the AAP government has popularised in Delhi, and a primary health centre.“That facility (Mohalla clinic) is more suitable for a city where 100 per cent population lives in urban areas. You are talking about a city which is also a state (Delhi), having a population of around 1.5 crore,” Patel said.
“On the other hand, Gujarat has a vast geographical area and population of 6.30 crore. Gujarat has mountains, tribal areas, rivers, desert and a long coastline. So our healthcare model is based on PHCs, community health centres, district and sub-district hospitals, civil hospitals and specialty hospitals,” the deputy CM said.“We are famous for these facilities. Even patients from the state (Delhi) you are mentioning come to Gujarat for treatment,” he added.
Patients from neighbouring states as well as from distant Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal also come to Gujarat for treatment, and healthcare facilities in the state are popular among Non-Resident Indians and foreigners too, he claimed.“It proves that our healthcare model is better and we are trying to make it more efficient. It is Gujarat which inspires others. They learn from us and implement it in other places,” Patel said. The AAP had pitched its government’s work in opening mohalla clinics across the city to curry favour with the voting public ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. The primary healthcare model had also been lauded by Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
‘Patients from elsewhere come seeking treatment’
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said patients from neighbouring states, including UP, visit his state in numbers to seek treatment and its healthcare facilities are also popular with NRIs and foreigners.