After a six-hour standoff on Wednesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal struck a conciliatory note on Thursday, agreeing to put aside the blame-game over the delay in the mohalla clinics project.
Mr. Baijal chaired a meeting on mohalla clinics at 5 p.m. where he, according to a statement from Raj Niwas, assured his support to the primary healthcare initiative. The decision on Mohalla Clinics, the L-G was quoted as having said, would be taken with “sufficient safeguards” to ensure delivery of quality health care to the residents of Delhi in a “transparent and sustainable” manner. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendra Jain, the Chief Secretary and other senior Delhi government officers.
‘Warm and positive’
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the meeting with Mr. Baijal had been “warm and positive”. “The L-G assured us that he would sign the file by Monday or Tuesday,” said Mr. Sisodia.
“At the outset, the L-G reiterated that primary healthcare is an important service that any welfare government should aim to provide effectively to its residents. He has always extended his support to any initiative that strengthens the healthcare delivery system to the residents of Delhi. He recalled that within days of his joining, he had given the in-principle approval for setting up the same on lands appurtenant to schools,” the statement said.
Robust design
The L-G observed that it was of “extreme importance” that while implementing such a vital project, all issues were addressed to ensure that the programme delivers its goals in an “optimum and transparent” manner and programme design becomes more robust.
When asked whether the file had been pending with the L-G as AAP MLAs had said on Wednesday, or with the elected government as the L-G said, Mr. Sisodia said the file was sent to the Health Department at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. After addressing the issues raised, the Health Department returned it to the L-G on Thursday, said Mr. Sisodia.
‘Not another Gorakhpur’
“None of us want a tragedy like what happened in Gorakhpur. We don’t want blame game or politics over the issue. We want to make sure that the poor are able to get the best healthcare,” said Mr. Sisodia.
Meanwhile, Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, who led a delegation of 43 AAP MLAs that camped at the L-G's offices on Wednesday for six hours, said the meeting on Thursday had resolved the initial confusion over the status of the file.
