New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday inaugurated the new OPD block at Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital here and asserted that his government’s focus is on health and education and earlier there were 10,000 beds in the government hospitals with the construction of 11 new hospitals the total number of beds will go up to 26,000 beds.
Kejriwal inaugurated the new OPD Block of the Hospital here and said that the AAP government is tirelessly working to align Delhi's health system with international standards and the WHO's parameters.
“Our government has not only improved the quality of government hospitals but also made all healthcare services free,” Kejriwal said.
He said that he was delighted that a new block has been constructed as the older block lacked the required space and other facilities.
He said that he also visited the new block and noticed that the new block was spacious, centrally Air-Conditioned with availability of rooms for the specialists.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor also said that he interacted with a few patients and said that the doctors and patients had to face hardships in the OPD for their treatment due to the lack of space in the older block.
“Now, I believe that the construction of the new block will amount to an increase in footfalls. I came to know that the daily OPD of the hospital is 800-1000, which is not very significant. With the construction of a new block, I am optimistic that the daily footfalls of the OPD should increase by 2-3 times," the Chief Minister said.
Epmphasising on the education and health sector, Kejriwal said: "Education and health care is our main area of focus in Delhi. Concerning health care facilities a major expansion is underway in Delhi. Until now, there used to be 10,000 beds in the government hospitals including all the Delhi Government's hospitals. Now, 11 new hospitals are being constructed and the existing hospitals are getting revamped.”
He said that this will lead to the availability of an additional 16,000 new beds in the Delhi government's hospitals.
“Including private, Central Government, and Delhi Government's hospitals, we will cross the WHO's norms and meet the international standards of the health care system in Delhi," he said.
He emphasised that if we envision 'Ram Rajya,' education and healthcare services should be good and free for everyone. He said that while reaching the ideal of 'Ram Rajya' may be challenging, his government is making efforts in that direction.
Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and local MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney were also present at during the inauguration ceremony.
According to the government officials, the Delhi government spent Rs 22.8 crores to construct this 3-storey new OPD block at Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, apart from the ground floor. The block houses 25 consultation rooms, two elevators, and two staircases. It took nearly a year to complete this construction.
Kejriwal also said that from the start, “We firmly believed that a good government should always provide free education and healthcare facilities to every citizen.”
“On one hand, we tried to improve the conditions of government hospitals, installed many Mohalla Clinics, and Poly Clinics, new hospitals are being built, and older hospitals are getting revamped. On the other side, we have managed to provide all the health care facilities for free. All the medicines, tests, treatments, and operations are free in government hospitals," the Chief Minister added.
—IANS