The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has questioned the BJP Government’s intent after it failed to operationalise the fully constructed 1,470-bed Shalimar Bagh hospital, warning that the administration appears to be preparing to hand over Delhi’s newly built public hospitals to private entities.
Calling such a move a betrayal of the people of the city, AAP leader and former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said the BJP must explain how citizens will receive free treatment if hospitals built with crores of public money and on public land are simply transferred to private hands. During a media interaction on Sunday, the AAP Delhi State President said, “This is not just about one hospital in Shalimar Bagh; nearly 24 hospitals were started under the Arvind Kejriwal Government. Hundreds of new beds were to be added to Delhi’s Government hospitals.
The 1,470-bed hospital in Shalimar Bagh, located right next to a private hospital, is almost complete, yet the BJP Government has not started work to operationalise it.”
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief said, “We have received information that the BJP Government is planning to hand over these new hospitals to private hands. If you privatise a hospital built with public money, how will the people benefit? This is clearly a move to benefit private hospitals. The BJP has not given any clarification so far. Instead of giving clear answers, BJP spokespersons are speaking irrelevantly. They are saying, ‘Come to the porta-cabin.’ I am ready. Let us both go and inspect together. If there is anything built inside the porta cabin, we will accept it. But these are proper hospitals with thousands of beds, how can you hand them over to private hospitals?”.
This is not just about one hospital in Shalimar Bagh; nearly 24 hospitals were started under the Arvind Kejriwal Government. Thousands of new beds were to be added to Delhi’s Government hospitals
— AAP Delhi State President
