New Delhi: An image of a mound of garbage lying below a signboard of an ‘Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic’ of the Arvind Kerjiwal-led Delhi government has been doing the rounds on social media.
West Delhi Lok Sabha MP Parvesh Verma, who is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), shared the image on Twitter Thursday, with the message: “The Kejriwal government has built 1,000 mohalla clinics in Delhi, this is one of them.” Since then, Verma’s post has been retweeted over 1,800 times and ‘liked’ over 6,200 times.
दिल्ली में 1000 मोहल्ला क्लिनिक @ArvindKejriwal ने बनाएँ हैं , ये उनमें से एक है ? pic.twitter.com/SUVtA38IOy
— Parvesh Sahib Singh (@p_sahibsingh) May 5, 2022
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had introduced mohalla clinics, or community clinics, in the national capital in 2015 to provide “basic health services to the underserved population in urban settings”.
Apart from Verma, BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey had also shared the same image Wednesday, saying: “This is a mohalla clinic of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Delhi.”
ये है केजरीवाल जी के आम आदमी पार्टी शासित दिल्ली का मोहल्ला क्लीनिक @ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/fiWQQEhJR2
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) May 4, 2022
Dubey’s tweet was retweeted by North East Delhi MP and BJP leader Manoj Tiwari, who commented: “This is the ground reality of the AAP government…that all they claim exists only in advertisements.”
ये ही तो है ज़मीनी हक़ीक़त… कि सब कुछ विज्ञापन पर ही है AAP का https://t.co/E9BG4HFQYx
— Manoj Tiwari ?? (@ManojTiwariMP) May 4, 2022
However, Verma and Dubey’s claims, if taken literally, are not true.
Fact check
The signboard in the image says ‘Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic, Niti Vihar, Kirari, Delhi-110086’.
No doubt the image is real, the filth is real, the signboard is real, but that’s not exactly where the said clinic is located.
On Saturday, Shaleen Mitra, an officer on special duty (OSD) with the Delhi government, whose Twitter bio says he is “building Mohalla clinics” under state Health Minister Satyendar Jain, posted a video of the area where the picture was taken, in reply to Verma’s tweet.
Hey Party of Hate Mongers, Party of Fake News Manufacturers, Party of Lies, Party of Loosers.
Check this out pl. https://t.co/8ADnnLN9mD pic.twitter.com/92V44lOKOd
— Shaleen (@ShaleenMitra) May 7, 2022
In the video, Ravinder Bhardwaj, municipal councillor from Aman Vihar in Kirari area, shows the controversial signboard and then leads the individual shooting the video past the spot, and to the actual mohalla clinic.
In the clip, Bhardwaj says that the clinic is located roughly 50 metres away from the signboard. He also says that the signboard was put up there so people could find their way to the mohalla clinic.
ThePrint also tried to geo-locate the site. The video showed some water tanks in the background and a grey building slightly towards the west. Using Google Earth, it was found that the mohalla clinic building was situated adjacent to a Delhi Jal Board reservoir in Niti Vihar of Kirari, which falls in North West Delhi.
ThePrint sought a comment on the matter from MP Parvesh Verma via phone and text, but did not get a response. This article will be updated when a response is received.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
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