Couple of months after losing Delhi in the Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has conducted a survey of government hospitals in the national Capital which is now governed by BJP; AAP MLAs visiting the hospitals claimed patients are no longer getting essential medicines.

While only a handful of cheap medicines are available, costly medicines must now be bought from outside. In contrast, during Arvind Kejriwal’s government, all medicines and treatment were provided free of cost. AAP says the BJP government has handed Delhi’s hospitals over to health mafias, giving them a free run to exploit the downtrodden, said a Press release from the AAP.

After visiting Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and speaking to patients, AAP MLA Jarnail Singh expressed serious concern over the deteriorating state of public healthcare in Delhi. “Arvind Kejriwal’s government worked hard to improve facilities in government hospitals. But now, the BJP government is ruining everything,” he said. “Under BJP’s rule, the condition of government hospitals is worsening every single day. The people of Delhi had voted for BJP with a lot of hope. The BJP had promised not to shut down public welfare schemes, but in reality, these schemes are falling apart,” he added.

AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar visited Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and spoke to several patients about the availability of medicines. “Every patient told me the same thing - medicines are no longer being given in full. People are being forced to buy many of them from outside,” he said.

Senior AAP leader Reena Gupta visited IHBAS Hospital to assess the situation regarding medicine availability for mental health patients. She shared testimonies of patients who’ve been coming to IHBAS for years. While AAP leader Rajesh Gupta visited Deepchand Bandhu Hospital and spoke to several patients to find that people coming to the hospital were not receiving the full set of prescribed medicines, his colleague Ghanshyam Bhardwaj visited Guru Gobind Singh Hospital to speak with people about the medicine shortage. AAP leader Praveen visited the Super Speciality Hospital in Janakpuri to assess the medicine situation. AAP leader Jalaj Chaudhary visited Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital in Pitampura. AAP leader Ajay Sharma, who visited Chacha Nehru Hospital — dedicated to children — spoke to numerous patients and found alarming gaps.