India
pti-PTI
Hours
after
praising
the
AAP
government’s
Mohalla
Clinic
initiative,
Karnataka
Health
Minister
and
Congress
leader
Dinesh
Gundu
Rao
on
Friday
said
it
is
“overhyped”
and
he
was
left
“disappointed”
after
a
visit
to
one
such
facility.
There
was
no
immediate
reaction
from
the
Arvind
Kejriwal
government
on
the
Karnataka
minister’s
change
of
statement.
The
Congress
and
the
Aam
Aadmi
Party
(AAP)
are
members
of
the
opposition
INDIA
bloc.
On
Friday,
Rao
visited
an
‘Aam
Aadmi
Mohalla
Clinic’ at
Panchsheel
Park
here.
He
was
accompanied
by
Delhi
Health
Minister
Saurabh
Bharadwaj
and
Karnataka
Bhavan
medical
officer
Karthik,
according
to
an
official
statement.
Almost
four
hours
after
praising
the
mohalla
clinic
initiative,
Gundu
Rao
made
a
U-turn.
“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,” the
Congress
leader
tweeted.
“I
guess
it
is
overhyped
and
I
came
back
feeling
disappointed,”
he
said.
During
the
visit,
the
Karnataka
minister
saw
the
facilities
at
the
mohalla
clinic
and
enquired
about
the
welfare
of
staffers.
The
Delhi
government’s
mohalla
clinic
is
a
neighbourhood
facility
for
providing
free
primary
healthcare
to
residents.
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The
Mohalla
clinic
programme
is
among
the
flagship
initiatives
of
the
Kejriwal
government
to
boost
the
primary
healthcare
system
in
Delhi.
Speaking
to
reporters
during
his
visit
to
the
Panchsheel
Park
mohalla
clinic,
Rao
had
praised
the
mohalla
clinic
model
and
said
that
it
is
functioning
“very
well”.
“I
had
heard
a
lot
about
mohalla
clinics
and
I
wanted
to
see
them
personally.
I
wanted
to
discuss
how
they
(AAP
government)
are
implementing
the
health
policies,”
he
had
told
reporters.
“In
southern
states
such
as
Tamil
Nadu,
Kerala
and
Karnataka,
health
has
always
been
a
priority.
Every
state
has
got
something
good
that
we
can
learn
from.
We
have
something
similar
(to
mohalla
clinics)…
we
have
‘namma
clinics’.
We
wanted
to
see
how
we
can
improve
our
system,”
he
had
said.
Bharadwaj
said
his
Karnataka
counterpart
told
him
about
how
good
the
hospitals
are
in
the
southern
state.
“We
will
also
visit
his
state.
All
states
should
learn
from
each
other.
I
am
very
happy
that
they
have
come
here,”
he
said.
Earlier
in
the
day,
quotetweeting
Bharadwaj’s
tweets
on
Gundu
Rao’s
visit,
Kejriwal
had
said
Delhi
will
learn
from
the
good
work
done
by
the
Karnataka
government.
“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,”
he
had
tweeted.
Currently,
there
are
more
than
500
mohalla
clinics
in
the
national
capital
that
offer
free
primary
healthcare
services
to
patients,
including
212
different
types
of
medical
tests.
