Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday visited an Aam Aadmi Mohalla clinic in New Delhi and later put out a message on X (formerly Twitter) that he had come back feeling “disappointed”.
While his visit was earlier welcomed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Rao’s remark hours later came as a surprise. He said: “Visited a Mohalla Clinic in Delhi with hardly any people there. Our clinics in Karnataka have more facilities including a laboratory to do immediate tests for patients. I guess it is overhyped and I came back feeling disappointed.”
This comes at a time when the Opposition parties are trying to portray a united front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led government’s mohalla clinic is a neighbourhood facility to provide free primary healthcare to residents. Mohalla clinics are one of the flagship initiatives of the Delhi government to promote primary healthcare system in the national capital.
Surprisingly, Mr. Rao had praised the model earlier in the day. “I heard a lot about the clinics and wanted to see them. I wanted to discuss how the AAP government is implementing health policies,” Mr. Rao had said. “Karnataka has been giving priority to the health of the people. Like mohalla clinics, we have namma clinics. We wanted to see how we can improve our system,” he had said.
Mr. Kejriwal, in a message on his social media handle, had said: “Karnataka Health Minister visits Delhi mohalla clinics. We welcome him and his team. We all have to learn from each other. Delhi will also learn from the good work done by Karnataka govt.”
