28 Feb, New Delhi:
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the functioning of Mohalla Clinics under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has revealed serious lapses in medicine storage, availability, and monitoring. The report highlights that in South Delhi, medicines were stored in a basement lacking air conditioning and ventilation, with boxes found on the ground, in toilet areas, and on staircases.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, 26 essential medicines were unavailable in the North Eastern District medicine stores for one to 16 months. Across districts, 10 to 37 percent of medicines required for dispensaries were missing. Additionally, from 2016 to 2020, only 2.81 lakh to 3.51 lakh out of 17 lakh school students underwent health checkups. The report also flagged a lack of adequate storage space for medicines in district stores.
Lack of Monitoring and Declining Patient Numbers
Negligence in monitoring was also stated. Between March 2018 and March 2023, only 175 inspections of 218 Mohalla Clinics were conducted instead of 11,191. The situation in AYUSH dispensaries is similarly dire, with a shortage of doctors and facilities. OPDs in 68% of Ayurvedic, 72% of Unani, and 17% of Homeopathy dispensaries fail to function six days a week, leading to a 19% drop in patient numbers. Ayurvedic and Unani medicines are also in short supply, with 42% and 56% of required stocks missing, respectively.
Congress Demands Full Disclosure of CAG Reports
Delhi Congress President Devendra Yadav has demanded that the BJP government table all 13 pending CAG reports related to AAP’s tenure. He accused BJP of shielding AAP’s corruption, stating that only the excise scam report was selectively presented without proper discussion.
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