Punjab health minister Balbir Singh on Wednesday said central funding under National Health Mission (NHM) continued to be stuck over the issue of co-branding of Aam Aadmi Clinics and the matter was likely to be taken up with the Union minister concerned at a meeting in New Delhi scheduled for Thursday.

He regretted a power outage at Patiala’s Govt Rajindra Hospital in July that had forced doctors to perform a C-section using a mobile flashlight.

Replying to a question by Congress MLA Pargat Singh during question hour of the assembly, the minister said, “The 24×7 (power) supply of hospital was disrupted for a night. I was there with my entire staff. Within 24 hours, a second line was installed. There have been technical glitches at global level ….”

“I am really sorry, but I appreciate doctors ensured there was no harm to the patient. They managed using whatever light. After the C-section, the mother and newborn are safe. We are conducting fire-safety audits besides ensuring power lines and generators in all CHCs,” the minister added.

On July 21, power supply of the hospital was snapped around 8pm when the C-section of a woman was under way. Following the outage, power generators were pressed into use, but the one supplying electricity to the mother and child wing of the hospital did not function.
On Aam Aadmi Clinics, Balbir Singh said, “It was a Delhi model replicated in the state. Two crore patients have been treated there. It was a game-changer. But the Centre is allergic to the name Aam Aadmi Clinic. They said branding should be done by the Centre. But we are insisting on co-branding. This issue should be kept away from politics.”

“We have a meeting with the Union minister tomorrow. I will urge political leaders who have family members there (in the BJP) to use their influence to resolve the issue. The NHM money has been unreasonably blocked,” he said.