How Technology Should be Utilised in Delhi Specially After Arvind Kejriwal's Strong Election Mandate

Driving its social development agenda, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is set for a resounding victory in the Delhi Assembly elections. 

The party’s success is broadly centred around its campaign on the transformation it brought in healthcare and education in Delhi. 

Commenting on AAP's win, Manish Chhabra, CEO and Founder, Shifa Care, said, “AAP did a decent job on both education and healthcare fronts in Delhi and we expect the expanse and the quality of the impact even greater, going forward. As the nation’s health depends on its people’s health, and if the centre can make itself a model city vis a vis easy access to healthcare, states can emulate the same.”

Shifa Care is a healthcare tech platform recently launched in India, by Chhabra, a molecular biologist and a Harvard Business School alumnus in big data and deep machine learning. 

In healthcare, AAP claims to have shown effective work and impact, however, most of the results were driven around primary health centres with focus on Mohalla clinics and improvement in delivering care in hospitals. “Primary care is important and congratulations to the AAP for its achievement, however much is required to be done on accessibility, affordability and quality fronts. It had also promised to increase the number of beds in Delhi hospitals to five per 1,000. But as per a World Health Organization report, Delhi still reports 2.9 beds per 1,000 people. Along with beds, the focus should now be on leveraging technology in health in its third term”, he said. 

Chhabra emphasised, “Delhi NCR alone counts for two million plus population, plus-minus transient ones, which are not taken into account. If technology can be a mandate in healthcare, especially in government hospitals, the city’s people can be benefited to a great extent. They can steer clear of harassment while travelling, be miles away from uninvited infections from people coming from other cities for treatment and can have health care privacy while saving time, energy and money.”

He added, “Delhi needs public-private partnership in healthcare. A healthcare model with tech in focus, encompassing 50% online consultations, could prove boon for the city for follow-up consultations of the ailing population.”