The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 25 hit out at the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, accusing it of shutting down several rural dispensaries in the State, which is resulting in crumbling of the rural healthcare.
BJP’s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said thousands of inhabitants of villages of Punjab are suffering extreme hardships on account of the inaccessibility of basic health services due to the shutting down of rural dispensaries by the AAP government. In a statement issued, Mr. Shergill said that the AAP government is playing with the lives of rural Punjab by depriving them of even basic healthcare.
“The need of the hour is to re-open rural dispensaries, which the AAP government has been closing. This matter cannot be taken lightly and prompt action is required to re-open rural dispensaries,’ he said, adding that not just rural dispensaries be made operational but the AAP government must make sure that a Rural Medical Officer (RMO), nursing, pharmacist and class-IV staff besides requisite equipment and stock of all required medicines, should be made available at these dispensaries.
Mr. Shergill, against the backdrop of the recently opened Aam Aadmi Clinics in Punjab by the AAP government, said, “Rural dispensaries used to cater to the villagers near to their houses, whereas these Aam Aadmi Clinics are relatively far-off from the villages, for which elderly people have to travel several kilometres in adverse weather conditions and that too when they are ill. Opening Aam Aadmi Clinics just to implement the Delhi model to get cheap political mileage is extremely shameful,” he added.
