CHENNAI: It seems the Amma mini-clinic at Navapatti in Salem underwent a quiet transformation in the intervening night between Wednesday and Thursday to become ‘CM’s mini-clinic’, causing a bit of confusion among the villagers and the clinic’s doctors.
Its board, which used to sport photos of former chief ministers J Jayalalithaa, Edappadi K Palaniswami, and O Panneerselvam, now has those of MK Stalin and M Karunanidhi. The board even read ‘TN Health Department’ and displayed the clinic’s timings.
Notably, villagers and the doctors of the clinic aren’t the only ones scratching their heads, the health officials too have no clue as to how the name change took place or who might have done it. When contacted, Tamil Nadu Health Department officials denied having given any directive to replace the boards. “The department officials didn’t change the boards,” a top health department official told TNIE.
TNIE has sought a response from the District Collector on whether the board would be replaced with the old one. While the boards of Amma mini-clinics have a green background, the one at Navapatti has a yellow-red colour scheme. The collectorate, however, is yet to give a response.
According to sources, the name change is the handiwork of local politicians as it appeared only on Thursday. But it begs the question as to whether Amma mini-clinics would continue to function under the same banner.
And, when posed the query, officials from the health department didn’t dismiss the possibility of its name getting changed in the future. “But the services would continue uninterrupted,” another top health official told TNIE. Meanwhile, doctors from 2,000 such clinics across Tamil Nadu walk on thin ice as their future continues to remain uncertain. Many have not even received salaries for months, sources said.
Health officials clueless
Villagers and the doctors of the Amma mini-clinic aren’t the only ones scratching their heads. The health officials too have no clue as to how the name change took place or who might have done it