AAP targets BJP over closure of 250 Mohalla Clinics, demands immediate reopening

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched a fierce demonstration against the BJP government over the systematic shutdown of Mohalla Clinics, calling it out for dismantling Delhi’s free healthcare network to benefit private hospitals. Led by Karol Bagh MLA Vishesh Ravi and former MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi, AAP workers raised slogans demanding the immediate reopening of all sealed clinics.

The AAP MLA alleged that the BJP government has already closed 250 Mohalla Clinics across Delhi, forcing people to pay hefty fees at private hospitals. Highlighting the shutdown of health services, Ravi said, “After the BJP came to power in Delhi, it shut down around 250 Mohalla Clinics and locked and sealed six clinics in Karol Bagh and Paharganj. Since the BJP’s reign, these facilities have been steadily reduced. Mohalla Clinics were a unique system providing free treatment near people’s homes.”

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He further elaborated, “More than 170 medicines and 50 tests like haemoglobin, BP, sugar, X-ray, and CT scan were completely free. At the six Karol Bagh clinics, around 150 patients were treated every day. This means nearly 1,000 people in Karol Bagh alone received free medicines and treatment daily. Now this facility has been shut down.”

Pointing to the rising burden on ordinary families, the AAP MLA said, “After the closure of Mohalla Clinics, people are now forced to go to private doctors, where the minimum fee is Rs 100 and the cost of medicines and tests is separate. Under the Aam Aadmi Party government, people had access to free healthcare, but the BJP government has shut it down. From a new government, one expects new welfare schemes, but this peculiar government is not only failing to bring any new facilities, it is busy locking up the existing ones.”

Meanwhile, former MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi stated, “The BJP government is shutting down six Mohalla Clinics in the Karol Bagh Assembly constituency and around 250 clinics across Delhi. This is playing with the health of the people of Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party and the entire public strongly oppose this ‘Tughlaqi farmaan.’”