AAP govt deprived residents of better health infra: Vijender

New Delhi: The BJP slammed the AAP government, saying it has deprived the Delhi residents of the benefits of better health infrastructure by not implementing the PM-ABHIM scheme. No immediate reaction was available from AAP over the charge made by the BJP. In a letter to Chief Minister Atishi, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta demanded the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) in Delhi.

Under the scheme, 1,139 public health centres, testing labs and critical care units were to be established in Delhi's 11 districts but the AAP government did not use the Rs 2,406 crore provided by the Centre for these facilities, he alleged.

"Delhi is the only state in the country that has not benefited from this scheme," he claimed. Delhi was allocated Rs 2,406 crore, which was supposed to establish 1,139 public health centres, 11 public health labs, 10 critical care blocks, four government hospitals with 100-bed critical care units and five ICUs with 50 beds each in government medical colleges across Delhi's 11 districts, he said.

"However, due to the government's delays, this scheme has been pending since 2021. It is typical of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to block central government schemes in Delhi and deny their benefits to the public," he charged.

Gupta further alleged that the AAP government out-sourced lab services in Delhi's public hospitals, awarding contracts to a "favoured private company" to facilitate "corruption and pocket millions of rupees".

"The Delhi government kept circulating the PM-ABHIM file without taking action so that the two crore people of Delhi could not benefit from it. He asserted that the only motive of the AAP government is corruption, which is why it does not implement any central schemes in Delhi," he charged.