AAP leaders allege Delhi govt–private hospital nexus

Former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday criticized the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi Government for sabotaging Delhi’s public healthcare to benefit private players. The criticism was drawn over the non-operational government hospital in Shalimar Bagh, beside the Max Hospital in the area, which was constructed under the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Taking a jibe at the saffron party in the state, Bhardwaj took to social media and wrote, “Is CM Rekha Gupta’s government planning to give government hospitals to private entities?” He posted the video of the closed hospital along with his post.

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Indicating a nexus between the Delhi government and the private-run hospitals, for keeping the hospital non-operational, AAP leader said, “If this 1,470-bed hospital next to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh had been opened, patients would have chosen treatment in the government facility instead, affecting private profits. Is that why free medicines have been stopped in hospitals, and mohalla clinics are being shut down?”

Aiming at the Delhi Government for compromising equitable access to the public health infrastructure in the national capital, AAP’s MCD Councilor from Shalimar Bagh, Jalaj Chaudhary, said, “The BJP, which has always been hostile to the poor, earlier tried to give an Ayurvedic hospital to Vedanta. That plan was stopped only because villagers protested. This magnificent hospital (Shamilar Bagh Govt Hospital) was nearly ready and could have benefited lakhs if the four-engine government had simply operationalized it.”

Alleging that the government deliberately halted this project to help the private sector, Chaudhary said, “ Had this hospital become functional, Max Hospital’s business would have suffered.”