Will resolve Aapli Chikitsa issue on war footing: Chahal

Mumbai: Following the report on Aapli Chikitsa diagnostic centres being either shut or reports delayed after a new contractor was appointed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), municipal commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal held a meeting on Saturday to resolve the issue.

In the meeting that was attended by senior officials from BMC and a representative of Krsnaa Diagnostics Limited, who was awarded the contract, the contractor was asked to resolve all the issues on a war footing.

“We are resolving this on a war footing, I held a long meeting today on this. Thanks for highlighting this important issue.” said Chahal, adding, “The issue will be resolved for all clinics in Mumbai by March 27.”

Aapli Chikitsa (Your diagnosis)- the ambitious scheme of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was rolled out four years back to provide Mumbai citizens with basic and advanced pathology tests at a subsidised rate.

Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd was awarded the contract by BMC this month to conduct pathology tests starting March 6 across all BMC Aaple Chikitsa centres in Mumbai.

There are 139 tests that can be done at these centres, of which 101 tests are basic and 38 tests are advanced tests. Under the scheme, the corporation outsourced laboratory testing for all maternity homes, peripheral hospitals and dispensaries to the private laboratory. Citizens can avail basic tests at the cost of ₹50 and advanced tests at the cost of ₹100 from these centres.

A technician from the lab, requesting anonymity on Friday had said that tests done on March 12 and 13 are now getting the reports whereas the tests conducted before 12 are yet to get the reports.

Confirming the meeting, Dr Sanjeev Kumar, additional municipal commissioner (Health), said, “We had called in representatives from the lab and have asked them to increase the manpower immediately and make all clinics functional soon. We have also instructed them that the software needs to be fixed immediately.” adding that another meeting will be held on Monday and if there is no improvement, BMC will start taking action against the lab.

When contacted, Yogesh Arbat, a senior official at Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd. said our MD Pallavi Jain, is still out of the country and we will respond on Monday once she is back.