Over a dozen Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics across east Delhi have been ready for over three months, but have been unable to open their doors to patients for lack of power connections, as per government documents obtained by The Hindu .
No signatures
In June, the contractor constructing the clinics for the Delhi government’s Public Works Department gave a list of 16 mohalla clinics in east Delhi that were nearing completion. On June 16, the contractor, Llyods Insulations (India) Ltd., told the PWD that the Health Department officials concerned had refused to sign the application for electrical connections, saying they were not authorised to do so.
Fifteen of the clinics — one each in Seemapuri and Gandhi Nagar constituencies, two each in Gokalpur and Rohtas Nagar and three each in Ghonda, Shahdara and Babarpur — were completed, and one in Babarpur was nearing completion.
On July 31, the PWD took up the matter with the Directorate General of Health Services’ east Delhi office, saying in a letter that applications for electrical connections had been submitted three times to the latter, but were returned without being signed. The PWD asked for the applications to be signed soon so they could be submitted to the power discom.
Doctors’ deployment
However, according to sources associated with the project, the applications are yet to be signed and submitted. An official said that the question of deploying doctors for the clinics could be one of the reasons for the delay. Another senior official said that clearance from the land-owning agency was required for applying for power connections, which was not given. Delhi PWD and Health Minister Satyendar Jain could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, sources said that a total of 56 mohalla clinics were ready, of which 41 are in the process of getting electricity connections soon. In addition, 54 mohalla clinics have already been handed over to the government by the contractor.
Initially, the project was meant to be for 1,000 mohalla clinics, but has since been curtailed for lack of land. The PWD had given the contractor four contracts to construct 250 mohalla clinics each in March 2016. But, in July this year, the PWD was forced to foreclose on three of the contracts to avoid paying penalties as land had not been secured. One contract covering east, north-east and Shahdara was left open to accommodate sites that may become available. Recently, the Delhi government had announced that the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and the Delhi Jal Board will both make hundreds of sites available on their land.
