Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill on Wednesday said that the health sector, particularly rural healthcare, has collapsed in Punjab since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power.
He alleged that rural dispensaries, considered the backbone of rural healthcare, are in shambles and are without even basic medicines. “The tall claims of the AAP government with regard to providing health facilities are all a sham. The ground reality is completely different,” he said in a statement, adding that the government has miserably failed to cater to the basic health requirements of the people of the State.
Mr. Shergill said that because of the wrong policies of the AAP government, the rural dispensaries in Punjab are dying a slow death. He said that the unavailability of even basic medicines like paracetamol at rural dispensaries speaks volumes, about how bad the situation is.
He added that there are instances where Rural Medical Officers (RMOs) posted in many of the rural dispensaries are paying out of their pocket to purchase medicines so that patients do not suffer, which he said, was unfortunate. He said that tall claims of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann surrounding taking path breaking initiatives in the health sector have fallen flat as the situation the ground speaks otherwise.
Mr. Shergill also alleged that the government was quoting “fudged figures” of patients visiting Aam Aadmi Clinics only to get cheap publicity. “Fake OPD Registration is being done at several Aam Aadmi Clinics, the proof of which is that even the Punjab Health Minister has ordered a probe into the matter,” he added.
