Soumya Jain, daughter of Satyendar Jain, was appointed as the head of Delhi mohalla clinics.
Highlights
- Health Minister's daughter was chosen to oversee mohalla or free clinics
- Soumya Jain, 26, trained as architect, no public health experience
- Opposition alleged nepotism. Health Minister defended her choice
After a barrage of criticism for the government of Arvind Kejriwal, the daughter of Health Minister Satyendar Jain has quit a top post in his department.
Soumya Jain, 26, who trained as an architect and has no experience in Public Health, was appointed to oversee the network of
mohalla or neighbourhood clinics that have won Mr Kejriwal's government international acclaim for providing efficient and free assistance to walk-ins.
The accusations of profligate nepotism levelled by opposition parties were bolstered by the government's own caginess about the appointment - her father revealed today that she had in fact been selected two months ago.
"Nobody in the government objected to her appointment, but my daughter felt harassed and decided to resign.
The post was not executive in nature only advisory. Because she is trained as an architect, she was designing
mohalla clinics for us," the Health Minister told reporters today, stressing that Ms Jain was not receiving a salary or any other perques from the government,
Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, founded nearly four years ago, made an immediate people-connect by declaring its commitment to fighting systemic corruption, VIP culture, and the promotion of friends and family, all common drawbacks among other parties.
So the controversy around Ms Jain enabled opponents to claim that once again, AAP has been caught violating what it sanctimoniously preaches.
The Congress's Sandeep Dikshit described Ms Jain's selection as "illegal and absolute double speak from the party which kept targeting others for family links."
Mr Kejriwal's government has so far created 100
mohalla clinics; it has ambitiously declared that the capital will have 1,000 by the end of March.