Patna: The two newly developed urban health centres, modelled on Delhi’s mohalla clinics, have started operating at two locations in the state capital, but are still awaiting a formal inauguration.Health minister Nishant Kumar is expected to inaugurate both the centres within a week. The centres have been set up in two Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) wards — one in Dariyapur Bhatti in ward no. 38, which is the largest, and another in Nand Nagar Colony in ward no. 48. The urban health centres will provide free treatment, regular health check-ups and essential medicines to the residents under the PMC area.Councillor of ward no. 48, Indradeep Chandravanshi, said: “When I was a standing committee member, we took this initiative. Our effort was to have an urban primary health centre in all 75 wards of the PMC. Now, ward no. 38 councillor Ashish Sinha and I are starting it. The govt has also allotted land at 18 other locations. Delhi’s mohalla clinics are still talked about. I assure you that similar facilities will be seen in these two urban primary health centres in Patna.”The facilities at these centres include OPD (outdoor patients department), check-ups for pregnant women, vaccination, safe delivery counselling and child immunisation and newborn care.The Dariyapur Bhatti Road centre in ward no. 38 was built after freeing four kathas of land that faced encroachment for decades. After PMC issued the NOC (no objection certificate), the BMSICL (Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Ltd), under the Bihar State Health Society, constructed the facility at a cost of Rs1.16 crore. The new building has 12 rooms, six toilets, a large hall and six beds for emergencies.“The urban primary health centre in Nand Nagar Colony, ward no. 48, has been developed as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’. Once operational, it will benefit over one lakh people, including nearly 10,000 poor residents of Nand Nagar and Nayagaon slum areas. A large number of students live in Musallahpur and Saidpur under this ward. Now, students and local residents need not visit private doctors for seasonal and common illnesses,” Chandravanshi said.He added that the patients would have to pay only Rs2 for a medical consultancy at these centres.
