Delhi government to set up 30 mohalla clinics to boost COVID-19 care

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is planning to construct 30 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics (AAMC) across various constituent assemblies to facilitate Covid-19 treatment and primary healthcare. These clinics will cater to areas where the healthcare system is saturated due to the increasing number of Covid cases and lack of space and beds in government hospitals.

The mohalla clinics will come up at various places under assembly constituencies such as Mundka, Nagloi Jat, Moti Nagar, Madipur, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janak Puri, Vikas Puri and Uttam Nagar. According to the Public Works Department, these places are densely populated with migrant workers and JJ clusters.

Apart from such areas, the South West and the West district have also been earmarked for this project because they have a large number of containment zones.

“Currently, the big hospitals such as Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU), Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital in these districts are overcrowded and have a large number of Covid cases...Thus, the upcoming mohalla clinics are expected to boost both Covid and primary health care facilities for people, especially those coming from the lower-income groups,” said a government official. A tender has been floated for the project and the estimated budget is Rs 30,22,043.

“The areas are yet to be identified. Once construction begins the clinics will be ready by December-January,” he added.

Currently, some of these clinics are being used a Covid-19 testing centres from 2 pm to 6 pm. The decision to convert some of these clinics to testing centres is part of the city government’s plan to bump up testing rates in the national capital.