Health centres in Punjab turn into mohalla clinics

Karam Prakash

Patiala, August 21

The flagship healthcare initiative of the government, Aam Aadmi Clinics, has come up at the cost of already well-functioning Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs).

The Punjab Government has acquired and converted many HWCs into the Aam Aadmi Clinics.

Regular staff deployed at clinics

• The AAP government is now deploying regular health staff, including medical officers, to Aam Aadmi Clinics
• The Medical Laboratory Technicians’Association said some Civil Surgeons had deployed regular MLTs at Aam Aadmi Clinics to collect samples

The functionality of the HWCs was recognised by the Centre, with Punjab ranking first in a survey last year. Now, employees of the HWCs have allegedly slammed the AAP government for destroying existing healthcare system just to get popularity.

Community Health Officers (CHO), who have been already working at these HCWs, said those centres were built under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme and therefore should not have been dismantled suddenly.

Dr Sunil Targotra, president, Community Health Officers Association, claimed: “These HWCs were already functioning efficiently with adequate staff. It seems that the government is disrupting the working of 35 HCWs only to increase the count of Aam Aadmi Clinics for gaining popularity. The new government has daubed the HWCs with new colour to turn them into Aam Aadmi Clinics.”