Weeks after planning the revamp of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s flagship Mohalla Clinics, the BJP-led Delhi government has now started the drill. The government has ordered the modification of 12 Mohalla Clinics and 13 dispensaries into the Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandir (UAAM) and Ayushman Arogya Mandir Primary Health Centres (PHC), respectively.
According to the plans, the 12 Mohalla Clinics, located mainly in unauthorised colonies and Jhuggi Jhopri clusters in New Delhi and Central District, will undergo transformations. The 13 dispensaries, scattered across different districts in Delhi, will also be revamped, with the goal of establishing new healthcare facilities that are more sustainable.
The total cost for these modifications is estimated at Rs 2.55 crore. To fund the project, the government has requested approval to use the budget allocated for dispensaries, where funds are available.
Officials said that the chief engineer of the health department has written to the special secretary of infrastructure outlining that the changes need to be completed urgently within the 100-day action plan set by the government.
As per the order, the average cost for the upgrade has been kept at Rs 15 lakh for the government dispensaries and Rs 5 lakh each for the mohalla clinics. The total amount required for the upgradation of these primary healthcare facilities is kept at Rs 2.5 crore.
Delhi's Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh recently spoke out against the Mohalla Clinic model, calling it flawed. While he refrained from confirming whether they would be entirely phased out, he stated that 240 clinics operating on rented premises were no longer viable due to financial losses. The fate of the remaining clinics, he added, would be decided by the Delhi Cabinet.
He stated that the new government’s priority will be to establish Ayushman Arogya Mandirs on government-owned land. Singh emphasized that these new centres would offer better healthcare services than the existing Mohalla Clinics, which he claimed lacked essential facilities and did not achieve their intended objectives.