At Arogya Mandirs in Capital, a rebranded promise yet to deliver

At an Aam Aadmi Polyclinic in Surajmal Vihar in East Delhi, painters hurry to finish their work. Walls that once carried the familiar blue and white of an Aam Aadmi Party-run Mohalla Clinic are now splashed with bright orange, yellow and red.

The board still read “Aam Aadmi Polyclinic”. “We have been asked to complete this renovation quickly before September 17…this board will go soon,” a worker appointed through the Public Works Department (PWD) said.

The Delhi Government plans to inaugurate around 150 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs across the Capital on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday on September 17. The transformation from Mohalla Clinics to Arogya Mandirs, however, raises questions over continuity, capacity and expansion of services.

During a field investigation that The Tribune conducted across four centres – Shahzada Bagh in Inderlok, Shahdara, Karkardooma Village and Surajmal Vihar – what stood out was a major cosmetic revamp.

Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are part of a larger effort to expand primary healthcare across the Capital. These clinics, called Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (U-AAMs), are part of the Delhi Government’s plan to set up 1,139 such centres in phases. At several of these centres, basic diagnostic tests such as haemoglobin, blood sugar, malaria and dengue are now available on-site, according to the doctor overseeing one of the facilities.

While some centres are refurbished versions of the Mohalla Clinics set up by the previous AAP government, many are entirely new constructions aimed at widening healthcare access across the city.

But the promises of expanded care and diagnostics evoke memories of the earlier model that built trust with communities. The Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics, set up as pre-engineered insulated box-type structures, 1,000 such clinics were planned to offer curative care for common illnesses like fever, diarrhoea, skin problems, respiratory infections and provide first aid, wound management and referral services.

Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are meant to go beyond the basic outpatient care provided by the Mohalla Clinics. Of the 93 diagnostic tests listed under U-AAM, 14 are conducted in-house, while 79 other tests are outsourced to nearby government hospitals. Yet, many patients visiting the centres today see little difference.

At the U-AAM located in Karkardooma village, the medical in-charge refused to speak to this correspondent. However, patients waiting outside shared their experiences.

“For us, it’s the same, just the board has changed,” said Meena, whose toddler had developed rashes. “I was asked to come after 2 pm,” she said, adding that the Arogya Mandir’s official timing is from 8 am to 2 pm.

Kamlesh, who runs a small stitching shop nearby, expressed his frustration over the lack of services. “For sputum tests, they sent me to Hedgewar Hospital. For X-rays too, they send us there. Many times, we don’t even get medicines,” he said.

“This has happened to me several times. I’ve been living here for 10 years. Earlier, there was a Mohalla Clinic under the previous government. Now, it’s just a repainting job and the board has been changed to ‘Arogya Mandir.’ Earlier, we used to get medicines, but now they often refuse. Sometimes we get medicines, but expensive ones are never provided. They tell us to buy them from outside,” he added.

An ASHA worker in the area said, “Only the name has changed… earlier medicines used to come, now even iron and calcium tablets are missing for pregnant women.”

“The staff is same…only the doctors and this board have changed,” added another ASHA worker in the area as she points to a dark red board new to the locality.

In Shahzada Bagh near Inderlok in West Delhi, Jayeda Begum, who suffers from back pain, said: “The doctor didn’t examine me at all. He just made a small slip, didn’t even write a full ‘bada parcha’.”

Other women in the basti said the reception counter often bypasses the doctor entirely. “Earlier, the doctor would check patients properly,” a woman explained. “Now, they just ask us to take medicines. Also, they don’t provide expensive medicines; they tell us to buy them from outside,” she said.

Manju, an ASHA worker, who works with 380 houses and around 1,800 people in the area, said, “It’s clean now…earlier the clinic used to be dirty.” She said, “The clinic now has a private lab. To avail of the tests, one must have a voter ID of Delhi.”

On diagnostics, she said, “Ultrasounds cannot be done here. Medicines are provided for 2-4 days. For anything beyond that, we refer patients to bigger hospitals. Pregnancy tests are done here, small injections are given, and iron or calcium supplements are provided. Lab tests include Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL), HIV, sugar, thyroid, urine, calcium, malaria and typhoid. Sometimes, though, not all tests can be performed, so patients are denied treatment.”

She also highlighted, “Though the centre runs till 2 pm, prescriptions are only made till 12 pm. I often bring pregnant women after 12 pm, and they refuse treatment. Then I am blamed in the locality for wasting their time.”

At Shahzada Bagh, West Delhi, this correspondent visited the centre posing as a patient with leg pain. She was handed a “bada parcha” (a slip) and sent to one of the two doctors present. The doctor, confused by the vague complaint, scribbled prescriptions for Diclofenac sodium tablets, calcium supplements and a pain-relief gel.

“I have written basic treatment which is available here. You can go to the hospital for an X-ray or anything else you want,” she said without examining or even asking which part of the leg has pain. The in-house pharmacy provided only tablets, not the prescribed gel, and denied having basic items like a cotton crepe bandage, saying, “I have never seen it in the past two months.”

In Shahdara, another Ayushman Arogya Mandir, until recently was a small MCD dispensary. A board outside still reads “Allopathic Dispensary,” though it has now been converted into an Arogya Mandir after the BJP government took office in Delhi. Apart from the walls, which are now painted bright yellow, orange and red, the facility itself remains largely unchanged.

The doctor on duty explained that the dispensary has been operational since 2011. “It has not been inaugurated yet,” he said, adding that the centre is fully functional, though basic installations are still underway. When asked about the tests available, he said, “No tests are being done now. Only medicines are being given here. Labs will be made soon.”

Asked about the kind of cases the centre handles, the doctor said, “On a daily basis, 60 to 80 people visit. Most complaints are for cold, fever, knee or elbow pain — sometimes cases that require an X-ray. In such cases, we refer them out. Otherwise, we give medicines.”

Despite the official narrative of expansion and better facilities, the centres function mainly as medicine-dispensing outlets, with diagnostic services yet to be implemented.

At the upcoming inauguration scheduled for September 17, the doctor described the preparation as a combination of functionality and branding. “There is a little bit of everything,” he said. “The branding is good… news reports show many more Arogya Mandirs inaugurated by the government. They are complete, but here we are still installing the labs.”

Yoga classes, which are there in the mandate, have also not begun yet. “Maybe, we will see more and better in the coming days,” he added.