Mohalla clinics no substitute for Ayushman Bharat: Harsh Vardhan

New Delhi  :   Union Minister and BJP candidate from Chandani Chowk Lok Sabha seat in Delhi Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said Mohalla clinics, part of the favourite healthcare scheme of the Kejriwal government in Delhi, are no susbitute for the Centre's ambitious Ayushman Bharat programme, which the Delhi government has not implemented.

Hitting the road for his public interaction 'Jansampark' rallies in the areas such as Pitampura, Trinagar, Rampura and Shastri Nagar, Harsh Vardhan said, "Kejriwal has been propagating city government's Mohalla clinics which have been decaying due to lack of medicines, medical officers and proper management."

"In many cases, stray animals make a mess of Mohalla clinics," said Harsh Vardhan, adding Mohalla Clinics are no substitute for Ayushman Yojana which is aimed at health needs of the poor and needy.

The Ayushman Bharat scheme, he said, is the world's largest healthcare scheme for the poor which has been rated high by the users as well as medical fraternity.

He said merely adding hospitals -- as the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has done -- will not help. "The condition of Delhi government hospitals is pathetic as large numbers of patients are being denied quality health services," he said, adding there has been no plan to overcome the growing number of patients in the hospitals. 

He charged Chief Minister Kejriwal with working in an authoritarian manner, saying he wanted to disturb the working relationship between the Union government and the state as defined in the Constitution.

Referring the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leader said: "AAP and Congress are no match for the BJP, which is being supported by crores of people from all sections of the society."

"The AAP and Congress are too weak to stop BJP's victory in Delhi and elsewhere. The AAP led by Kejriwal is known for its theatrics and dharnas whereas Congress has lost its credibility since it is wedded to dynastic rule," he said. 

The BJP had won all the seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. 

The elections for all the seven seats in Delhi are due May 12 in the sixth phase.