Newly elected Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is set to review the CAG report in the assembly on Friday, shedding light on alarming gaps in the city’s healthcare system. The report reveals shocking inefficiencies in mohalla clinics, where patient consultations last barely 30 seconds, with no access to essential medicines or ICU facilities. The lack of medical equipment further undermines the very purpose of these neighborhood health centers, raising serious concerns about Delhi’s public healthcare infrastructure.
Revealed in a CAG audit report on revenue, economy, social and general sectors and PSUs, it showed that 18% of the clinics that were evaluated were non-operational. The main reason remained, the complete lack of doctors and human resource. The clinics were faced with resignations and de-empanelment.
Findings of Delhi CAG audit Report
The audit showed that 41 os 218 clinics across the four districts of Delhi (North, South, East, South West and West), remained shut when the evaluation was carried out. It was gathered that 70% of the patients who did visit the mohalla clinics between October 2022 and March 2023 received consultations that lasted barely a minute.
There was no availability of basic medical equipment like oxymeters, glucometers, X-ray viewers, blood pressure monitors or even thermometers. Patients have been asked to purchase their own tetanus medication and syringes.
Alarming facts like failure to maintain a basic inventory of medications in the essential drug list (EDL) raise concerns. The audit noted that this list of 165 medications was either not procured by the concerned agency or not delivered by the vendors. These delays caused the clinics to remain shut between 15 days to 23 months.
Moreover, laboratory services were completely unavailable across Delhi’s mohalla clinics from November 16, 2022 to December 14,2022. Overall, in the decade that AAP was in power, only 53% of the planned mohalla clinics were established where the party’s promise to build 1000 clinics in 2015 fell short by a shocking number.
Further updates of CAG report for Delhi mohalla clinics
- 10 out of 81 clinics assessed, operated without potable water
- 24 lacked proper infrastructure to store medicines
- 21 had no toilet facilities
- 6 clinics had no examination tables
- 12 were inaccessible to differently-abled persons