Delhi’s Muslim-dominated wards have fewer mohalla clinics: Study

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, May 1

Muslim-dominated areas in Delhi have fewer mohalla clinics as compared to others, revealed in a recently published study titled ‘Muslims of Delhi’.

The study on their socio-economic and political status by the Delhi-based Institute of Policy Studies and Advocacy (IPSA) and the Indian Muslim Intellectuals Forum (IMIF) reveals that as the density of Muslim population increased, the number of clinics dipped.

The study discovered that there were 35 Muslim-dominated wards in Delhi under different assembly constituencies. The study concluded that there were 518 mohalla clinics in operation in the national capital spread over 70 assembly constituencies, and, on average, each constituency has around seven mohalla clinics.

The study highlights that assemblies with only one Muslim-dominated ward have an average of eight Mohalla clinics, assemblies with two Muslim-dominated wards have six clinics each, and with four such wards, there were only two such clinics in each assembly. “Thus, the number of mohalla clinics generally decreases with the assembly area with the increasing number of Muslim dominated wards,” according to the study.

The number of allopathic dispensaries and primary urban health centres also decreases with the rise in Muslim-dominated wards within respective assemblies.

The study found out that assemblies, which have one Muslim-dominated ward, have 0.83 hospitals; those with two wards have 0.66 hospitals; assemblies having three wards have 0.3 hospitals.

Access to hospitals

Less-populated Muslim areas have more chance of having access to govt hospitals than the one with a significant Muslim population. — Study