Illegally set up: Rs100 clinic promises to cure all ills
Owners claim they have permit from CDA.
A billboard depicting services being offered at the facility for just Rs100. PHOTO: MYRA IQBAL
ISLAMABAD:
A clinic in the capital promises to treat patients as well as provide medicines and relief for a small fee. Located at the border of Sector G-11, Aisha Medical Centre is being run out of a house covered with signboards offering various treatments for Rs100. With two stretchers covered with green sheets separated by a curtain in a tiny room, the clinic has been set up by a couple who has recently moved to the capital from Jhelum.
Dr Mohammad Yousaf Rajput and his wife Dr Noreen Yousaf aim to provide medical facilities to as many people as possible in the area, especially the poor that neighbour the sector. The house faces the slums that border the G-11 and F-11 sectors.
With many illegal workshops and other small businesses operating on the belt as well as encroachers residing there, Dr Noreen said after observing their neighbours they decided to keep the price as low as Rs100 as part of their marketing strategy. We also provide medicine in the same price. “Irrespective of what the medical condition might be, one can come in get themselves treated at the same time get medicine from us, which is something that other clinics in the area might not offer.”
The clinic is actually a dingy room partitioned by a curtain. On one side of the room sits an assistant next to a stretcher with his computer, while on the other side of the room is another stretcher supported by a wornout ultrasound machine and a drip.
Dr Naureen said they receive a large number of patients as they provide cheaper treatment than other options available. “We charge Rs300 for an ultrasound, whereas it actually costs as much as Rs1,000 from any private lab.” It is business for us, she added. The four-month old clinic barely covers costs but the couple is determined to stick to the cheap fee structure as their strategy to get as many patients as they can.
When asked about the clinic’s certification and its permit to operate so openly in the capital, Dr Yousaf that only a permit from CDA and an MBBS degree is required to operate a clinic anywhere in the capital. “There are many such clinics in their sector and across the city.”
The Rs100 clinic is just one of the many such clinics operating openly in the capital. Dr Anees Kausar from Polyclinic said no one was keeping a check on illegal clinics in the capital.
Speaking to The Express Tribune on condition on anonymity, a CDA official said the agency has been making a list of illegal clinics. We’ll start a campaign against them soon and action will be taken to shut these places down. The official said that CDA was successful in shutting down clinics and schools in the past and the notice for the next drive has been issued in the papers. Denying the requirement to hold permits to run such places, the official said that under CDA rules, running commercial ventures in residential areas was not allowed and strict action was planned for the future.
A recent survey conducted by CDA’s Building Control Section (BCS) revealed 104 medical centres were established in residential units. Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior official of BCS wishing not to be named said whenever CDA launches drive against violators of land use norms it deliberately avoids action against medical and educational institutes as these are for public service institutes.
CDA spokesperson Naeem Rauf said the agency was bound to take action against violators without any discrimination.” Following a recent survey, CDA served notices to all 2,030 violators and once the notice period expires, action will be taken against violators of land use norms.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2013.
A clinic in the capital promises to treat patients as well as provide medicines and relief for a small fee. Located at the border of Sector G-11, Aisha Medical Centre is being run out of a house covered with signboards offering various treatments for Rs100. With two stretchers covered with green sheets separated by a curtain in a tiny room, the clinic has been set up by a couple who has recently moved to the capital from Jhelum.
Dr Mohammad Yousaf Rajput and his wife Dr Noreen Yousaf aim to provide medical facilities to as many people as possible in the area, especially the poor that neighbour the sector. The house faces the slums that border the G-11 and F-11 sectors.
With many illegal workshops and other small businesses operating on the belt as well as encroachers residing there, Dr Noreen said after observing their neighbours they decided to keep the price as low as Rs100 as part of their marketing strategy. We also provide medicine in the same price. “Irrespective of what the medical condition might be, one can come in get themselves treated at the same time get medicine from us, which is something that other clinics in the area might not offer.”
The clinic is actually a dingy room partitioned by a curtain. On one side of the room sits an assistant next to a stretcher with his computer, while on the other side of the room is another stretcher supported by a wornout ultrasound machine and a drip.
Dr Naureen said they receive a large number of patients as they provide cheaper treatment than other options available. “We charge Rs300 for an ultrasound, whereas it actually costs as much as Rs1,000 from any private lab.” It is business for us, she added. The four-month old clinic barely covers costs but the couple is determined to stick to the cheap fee structure as their strategy to get as many patients as they can.
When asked about the clinic’s certification and its permit to operate so openly in the capital, Dr Yousaf that only a permit from CDA and an MBBS degree is required to operate a clinic anywhere in the capital. “There are many such clinics in their sector and across the city.”
The Rs100 clinic is just one of the many such clinics operating openly in the capital. Dr Anees Kausar from Polyclinic said no one was keeping a check on illegal clinics in the capital.
Speaking to The Express Tribune on condition on anonymity, a CDA official said the agency has been making a list of illegal clinics. We’ll start a campaign against them soon and action will be taken to shut these places down. The official said that CDA was successful in shutting down clinics and schools in the past and the notice for the next drive has been issued in the papers. Denying the requirement to hold permits to run such places, the official said that under CDA rules, running commercial ventures in residential areas was not allowed and strict action was planned for the future.
A recent survey conducted by CDA’s Building Control Section (BCS) revealed 104 medical centres were established in residential units. Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior official of BCS wishing not to be named said whenever CDA launches drive against violators of land use norms it deliberately avoids action against medical and educational institutes as these are for public service institutes.
CDA spokesperson Naeem Rauf said the agency was bound to take action against violators without any discrimination.” Following a recent survey, CDA served notices to all 2,030 violators and once the notice period expires, action will be taken against violators of land use norms.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2013.