NEW DELHI: Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday said seven doctors and 19 staffers posted at seven mohalla clinics have been removed from service for atempting to manipulate the electronic attendance system.
Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj said there were complaints about doctors coming in late to Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics.
Mohalla clinics are one of the flagship initiatives of the Arvind Kejriwal government to boost the primary health care system in Delhi. A typical mohalla clinic has a doctor, a midwife-cum-nurse and other ancillary staff, and an array of diagnostic services and essential medicines are provided free of cost to patients who come there.
"The staff (at mohalla clinics) are supposed to be available from 8 am to 2 pm. We got the attendance records checked ... It was found that the electronic attendance system was being manipulated," Bharadwaj told reporters.
The Delhi minister said some of the staff would come late but the system "showed" that they had arrived by 8 am.
"Irregularities were found (in our probe) at seven Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics -- five in the Southwest district, one in the Northeast district and another in Shahdara district. In all, 26 staffers, including seven doctors, have been de-empanelled," he said.
A total 533 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics are functional in Delhi.
Bharadwaj said the irregularities were noticed after discrepancies or oddities were found in images submitted such as change in clothing on the same day or a photo of a photograph being found in scanned images.
Besides the seven doctors, the remaining staff who were removed include six pharmacists, six clinic assistants and seven multi-tasking staff, he told reporters.
The Delhi minister said the Kejriwal government and the health department is "very serious" on the matter that staff deployed at such clinics discharge their duties responsibly and warned of action if any laxity is found.
Asked how such tampering with the system might have happened, he said technological upgrade is needed to keep pace with people who may try to byapss the system, adding, "We keep upgrading our technology."
(With PTI inputs)
