Delhi’s government hospitals, once a crucial lifeline for its ordinary residents, are now reeling under chaos. Shelves meant for medicines lie empty, surgical equipment and gloves are missing, and hospital administrators have been barred from even making local purchases. This crisis, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Delhi Unit President and former Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted is no accident. After empowering private school mafias in education, the BJP-led government is now dismantling public health to favour private hospitals.
Pointing to the shortage of medicines in government hospitals, senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said on X, “What has the BJP done to Delhi’s hospitals in just six months? Today, the people of Delhi are struggling even for medicines, stretchers and gloves. This is the same Delhi where, during the tenure of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, these hospitals were repaired with great difficulty and it was ensured that no common person had to buy medicines from outside in any government hospital. But the BJP has destroyed everything within six months.”
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “It has been nearly eight months since the BJP came to power in Delhi. The condition of government hospitals in Delhi is very bad at this time, never before have the hospitals been in such a state. There was a time when all medicines in Delhi government hospitals were provided free of cost because Arvind Kejriwal had made them free.”
He continued, “All tests were also free. The scheme was that if MRI, CT scan or any test was not possible in a Delhi government hospital, patients would be referred to private centres and tests were conducted free of cost. If any operation could not be conducted in time in a government hospital, either due to overload of patients or unavailability of surgeons, treatment was arranged in private hospitals.”
Pointing to the situation under the current government, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Today, under the eight-month-old BJP government in Delhi, there is chaos in government hospitals. In these eight months, the condition of Delhi’s government hospitals has deteriorated to an unprecedented level. Essential items like medicines, surgical equipment, gloves and implants are not available, forcing patients to buy medicines from their own pockets. The same condition is seen in hospitals under the central government like Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.”
Accusing the government of weakening health services deliberately, he added, “The BJP government is intentionally preparing to hand over health services to private hands. By creating a shortage of medicines in hospitals, patients are being pushed towards private hospitals. Earlier, under the Arvind Kejriwal government, all medicines and tests were free, and if a facility was not available in a government hospital, treatment was arranged free of cost in private hospitals.”
“But now even the annual budget of ₹80 crore for the Delhi Arogya Kosh has been brought down to zero, due to which several schemes including the Farishtey Yojana have been shut down. Due to the directions of the Ministry of Health, the purchase of medicines has stopped and hospital superintendents are not being allowed to procure them locally. This has affected Mohalla Clinics, Arogya Mandirs and dispensaries. Patients coming from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttarakhand are also facing problems, and the media has now fallen silent on this issue, while earlier organisations like Times of India and Hindustan Times used to report on it actively,” concluded Saurabh Bharadwaj.
