Govt for higher spending on health, education

■ CM says 1,000 mohalla clinics to provide treatment to people at their doors

New Delhi, Feb. 11: In a major revamp bid, the AAP government in Delhi is planning to boost spending on health, education and road infrastructure in the capital and wants the Centre to allow it scrap the long- term power purchase agreements with NTPC to bring down electricity cost.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that health and education sectors have been slowly killed by successive governments leaving them to collapse so that the private sector flourished.

Talking to senior editors to mark the completion of the AAP government’s one year in office, he said a three- level structure of health infrastructure was being built in Delhi that will comprise mohalla clinics ( primary health), poly clinics and then super speciality hospitals.

Flanked by deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia, health and PWD minister Satyender Jain and transport minister Gopal Rai, Mr Kejriwal said from this month the government has started free supply of medicines to the poor and 50 diagnostic tests are available to them without any payment.

There will be 1,000 mohalla clinics that will provide treatment to people almost at their doors and 100 or 150 poly clinics opened by the end of the year.

He said the medical superintendents of hospitals have been empowered to recruit former defence service personnel to be put in charge of cleanliness and security so that doctors will be free to do medical work.

The government was also considering introducing a comprehensive health card system covering all the population so that medical data is available for all. A comprehensive health insurance scheme is also planned and the number of beds in government hospitals is planned to be doubled from the present 10,000 to 20,000 in two years.

Similarly, the chief minister said on the education front focus will be made for building toilets and improving their upkeep and provision of drinking water in government schools to improve their functioning. There also people will be recruited to maintain the upkeep of the schools so that principals are free to do work relating to education so that quality of education imparted goes up.