‘Don’t want empty promises’: Amid Delhi polls, L-G ‘model’ villages await health infra

In 2023, Saxena adopted 4 much villages — Jaunti, Nizampur, Rawta, and Deorala — besides to beryllium developed arsenic self-sustainable exemplary villages, and launched a Rs 800-crore run promising the villages amended health, civic, and sports facilities.

According to a connection issued by the L-G bureau past year, the exemplary villages would beryllium provided upgraded civic infra, wellness facilities, livelihood opportunities and broad h2o and plantation absorption plans. However, the enactment done connected the crushed leaves overmuch to beryllium desired.

As the run for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections heats up, the radical surviving successful these villages consciousness “betrayed”. And arsenic the leaders of the cardinal contenders travel to their villages for canvassing, respective locals say, “We don’t privation bare promises. We privation healthcare facilities successful our country and amended roads and acquisition for our children.”
The residents of the these villages accidental that healthcare is the biggest contented for them owed to their distant determination and mediocre roads starring to hold successful providing healthcare to them.

While Jaunti and Nizamupur are a portion of Mundka Assembly constituency, Qutubgarh falls nether Bawana constituency. All these 3 seats successful Northwest Delhi were won by the AAP successful the 2020 polls.

BJP campaigner Gajendra Daral volition look Jasbir Karala of the AAP from Mundka successful the February 5 Assembly polls. In Bawana, Ravinder Kumar (Indraj) of the BJP volition contention against sitting MLA Jai Bhagwan of the AAP.

As 1 enters the main roadworthy successful Qutubgarh, a three-storey gathering successful Ward 31 could beryllium seen lying vacant. The gathering is expected to location the polyclinic that was promised by Saxena.

It, instead, houses the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Allopathic Dispensary, which operates retired of lone 2 rooms. All different rooms successful the gathering – which person capable abstraction to accommodate a 100-bed infirmary – are either unopen oregon empty. The talk-back units, RO plant, and occurrence information devices installed successful the dispensary are retired of service. Also, determination is nary different healthcare installation successful 15-km radius of the village.

The dispensary has lone 1 doctor, who was appointed aft the villagers staged a protestation successful 2022 seeking a imperishable doctor. Krishna Chander (64), a farmer, said, “In 2022, we protested and a doc was appointed to sojourn everyday. Also, erstwhile a week, 3 consultants, including a paediatrician and gynaecologist, travel to dainty patients, but thing has happened beyond that.”

According to a connection issued by the L-G office, a absorption was passed successful 2023 to upgrade the dispensary into a polyclinic and marque it operational astatine the earliest. “The L-G inspected the dispensary successful the colony and directed officials to upgrade this into a polyclinic… He was informed that 3 specialised doctors person precocious been posted astatine the dispensary and different indispensable instrumentality and facilities volition soon beryllium installed,” the L-G bureau had said.

Sources successful the L-G bureau said the work lies with the MCD to upgrade the dispensary into a polyclinic.

Lalit Ram (42), a mushroom shaper from the colony said, “The doc sits each time from 8 americium to 1 pm, pursuing which the residents are connected their own.”

“Recently, my mother’s humor unit changeable up and she fainted. We rushed her to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital successful Pooth Khurd, which is 15 km away… It took maine an hr to scope due to the fact that of the mediocre information of the roadworthy and traffic. Thankfully I made it connected clip and she survived,” helium added.

The dispensary provides lone consultation and nary diagnostic facility, for which residents person to spell to either dispensaries oregon backstage clinics successful different villages. “Even the biggest infirmary nearby, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Research Hospital, is 23 km away,” said Lalit.

He added that residents of adjacent villages similar Jat Khod, Punjab Khot, Mungeshpur, Tatesar, Jaunti, Ochandi, Katevara, Gadhi, Randhala and Shawda besides sojourn the dispensary astatine Qutubgarh.

Also, a porta compartment for mohalla session acceptable up 500 m from the dispensary, successful beforehand of a authorities school, is lying idle.

For Qutubgarh, the L-G had announced that parks, playgrounds and a sports analyzable would beryllium constructed. Work connected the aforesaid is underway, said officials, adding that enactment connected pond beautification is ongoing. What is pending is IGL pipeline connectivity for the village, arsenic promised by Saxena, and the mounting up of a polyclinic, which offers superior care, laboratory, diagnostic, and insignificant surgical facilities nether 1 roof.

Jaunti and Nizampur villages, meanwhile, are besides witnessing a “collapse” of the healthcare infrastructure with authorities buildings lying unserved and onshore allotted to physique hospitals being utilized to dump cattle dung. In cases of emergency, villagers question to far-off places, including Bahadurgarh successful Haryana, for treatment.

Satyawan Singh (58), president of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Nizampur, besides a farmer, said astir villagers sojourn Bahadurgarh successful lawsuit they look immoderate wellness issue, arsenic the dispensary built by the Delhi authorities successful the colony bash not connection diagnostic arsenic good arsenic parent and kid healthcare facilities.

At times, medicines are besides not disposable astatine the dispensary, said 73-year-old Nirmala Devi, a erstwhile postmaster of the colony and a diabetes patient. “You can’t present a kid successful a dispensary, right? Recently, a pistillate had to spell for transportation to a authorities infirmary successful Dwarka but she gave commencement connected her way,” she added.

Her son, Tapan Kaushik, a schoolhouse teacher, said the mediocre information of the roads adhd to the misery of the villagers, expanding the clip taken to scope a healthcare facility. He added that the colony has nary ATM oregon station bureau and residents person to spell to Ghevara village, which is 5 km away, to avail the services.

“We person fixed 2 Arjuna awardees (in kabaddi) – Manjeet Chillar and Rakesh Kumar – and respective kabaddi players and this is the authorities of our village,” helium added.

Kaushik claimed that anganwadi centre is located 1.5 km distant from the village. “How volition children and mothers spell truthful far? Anganwadi centre should beryllium wrong the village,” helium said.

In 2011, the colony – located 14 km from Qutubgarh – had got a two-storey parent and kid payment centre built by the MCD, launched by erstwhile BJP MP Smriti Irani and enactment person Pravesh Verma – the BJP campaigner from New Delhi Assembly seat. However, portion it ne'er functioned arsenic a parent and kid centre, present an ayurvedic dispensary runs from 1 of the rooms of the building. The others stay shut.

Residents said a porta compartment acceptable up for mohalla session astatine Nizampur lone functioned for a day. The instrumentality astatine the compartment was aboriginal removed.

The concern astatine Jaunti is similar. A doc visits its dispensary lone doubly a week. The villagers, aft mounting up a nonmigratory payment and agrarian improvement society, had written respective letters to the L-G but to nary avail.

The autobus basal astatine Jaunti welcomes visitors with a committee that work ‘Adarsh Jaunti village’. While the onshore connected which the autobus basal has been built is owned by the Delhi government, residents person been utilizing it to graze cattle.

Documents accessed by The Indian Express showed onshore was handed implicit to the authorities by the gram sabha successful the 1970s to physique a hospital. However, contempt repeated interactions and letters to the authorities by villagers, thing has been done connected the ground.

Dev Anand, a erstwhile Air Force serviceman and caput of the colony RWA, said a missive was written to Saxena successful September 2024, requesting him to conception a 200-bed parent and children infirmary oregon a wide infirmary connected the land.

“This request has been pending for a agelong clip now. While the colonisation of the colony has grown substantially implicit the years, with astir 7,000 radical surviving here, healthcare infrastructure has not been capable to support pace,” said Anand, adding that the Delhi authorities has besides ne'er acceptable up a mohalla session successful the village.

According to the villagers, they person written respective letters to Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj seeking a imperishable doc for the dispensary but to nary avail.

Anand said arsenic the nearest hospitals are often overburdened oregon located acold away, galore look hold successful receiving timely aesculapian attention, which is important successful cases of maternal and pediatric emergencies. Ishwar Singh, a resident, added, “Due to inadequate infrastructure, galore are forced to question agelong distances to question aesculapian care, which is peculiarly challenging for the elderly, children, and those with chronic illnesses.”