The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday launched a fierce demonstration against the BJP government over the systematic shutdown of Mohalla Clinics, calling it out for dismantling Delhi’s free healthcare network to benefit private hospitals. Led by Karol Bagh MLA Vishesh Ravi and former MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi, AAP workers raised slogans demanding the immediate reopening of all sealed clinics. The AAP MLA revealed that the BJP government has already shut 250 Mohalla Clinics, forcing people to pay hefty fees at private hospitals even though Delhi earlier had free treatment under the AAP government— a lifeline the BJP is now deliberately choking off.
Highlighting the shutdown of health services during the demonstration on Sunday, AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi stated, “After the BJP came to power in Delhi, it has shut down around 250 Mohalla Clinics and locked and sealed six clinics in Karol Bagh and Paharganj. Since BJP’s reign, these facilities have been steadily reduced. Mohalla Clinics were a unique system providing free treatment near people’s homes.”
He elaborated, “More than 170 medicines and 50 tests like haemoglobin, BP, sugar, X-ray and CT scan were completely free. At the six Karol Bagh clinics, around 150 patients were treated every day. This means nearly 1,000 people in Karol Bagh alone received free medicines and treatment daily. Now this facility has been shut down.”
Pointing to the rising burden on ordinary families, Vishesh Ravi said, “After the closure of Mohalla Clinics, people are now forced to go to private doctors, where the minimum fee is ₹100 and the cost of medicines and tests is separate. Under the Aam Aadmi Party government, people had access to free healthcare but the BJP government has shut it down. From a new government one expects new welfare schemes, but this peculiar government is not only failing to bring any new facilities, it is busy locking up the existing ones.”
Warning the government of public anger, he continued, “Today the Aam Aadmi Party and the people of Karol Bagh are united in their protest. If the BJP government thinks that after coming to power it can commit injustice and atrocities, then the people of Delhi will not tolerate it. Every worker of the Aam Aadmi Party stands with the public and will oppose every injustice. The BJP government must stop doing wrong or the public will remove it from power.”
Meanwhile, former MCD Mayor Mahesh Khichi stated, “The BJP government is shutting down six Mohalla Clinics in the Karol Bagh Assembly constituency and around 250 clinics across Delhi. This is playing with the health of the people of Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party and the entire public strongly oppose this ‘Tughlaqi farmaan.’”
Pointing to the impact on families, he said, “From one clinic in Karol Bagh, 150 to 200 families received free tests and medicines daily. This means that from six clinics, 1,000 people were benefiting every day. Now these 1,000 families will be affected. For even one medicine, they will have to go to private doctors, where the fee is between ₹500 and ₹1,000, and tests cost extra. In times of rising inflation, how will people afford treatment? In just nine months of the BJP coming to power, people are already suffering. They had promised every woman ₹2,500 a month, LPG cylinders at ₹500, and free cylinders on Holi and Diwali, but all the BJP’s promises turned out to be false.”
Recalling the BJP’s long wait for power, Mahesh Khichi added, “The BJP waited 27 years, came to power through deceit, and is now looting Delhi. Homes and shops are being demolished and the welfare schemes of Arvind Kejriwal’s government are being shut down. The Aam Aadmi Party demands that Mohalla Clinics should not be closed. If they are shut down, every AAP worker and every Delhi resident will take to the streets to protest. Even in the Assembly, AAP MLAs will opposed this strongly.”
