Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has on Monday unveiled the state's first mini-clinic in Chennai and the inauguration has come when the state is months ahead of the assembly polls and when it has been battling the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Named as 'Amma' mini-clinic, the initiative gets added to the list of welfare programmes and projects that were named after late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The Chief Minister has inaugurated the first mini-clinic in Chennai on Monday in the presence of senior ministers and authorities. Following the inauguration, the Chief Minister said that this initiative would provide disease-free lives for the people. 

According to reports, Chennai will be installed with a total of 200 such clinics while Tamil Nadu will get 2,000 clinics soon. On Monday, along with the unveiling of three mini-clinics in Chennai, the Chief Minister has also inaugurated 630 mini-clinics across the state on Monday. The inauguration has come when the state has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been expected that these mini-clinics would serve in addition to the Primary Health Centers (PHCs). 

Tamil Nadu has 1,850 Primary Health Centers that are serving with the aim of meeting the basic medical needs of the public. The reports say that these newly unveiled mini-clinics will be functioning from 8 am to 12 noon on the first shift and from 4 pm to 8 pm on the second shift. These clinics will be providing basic healthcare facilities like checking body temperature, blood sugar, hemoglobin, blood oxygen, and urine samples.

These mini-clinics would be manned with doctors, nurses, and medical assistants to assist and treat the patients who come to the clinics and these clinics would be installed in the densely populated areas across the state. After the inauguration, the Chief Minister said that the initiative is a historic achievement and the government has implemented this scheme with a view of providing disease-free lives for the people. 

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has commended the state government's initiative of mini-clinics in ensuring better and accessible medical facilities for the public. The reports say that the Chief Minister has unveiled three mini-clinics in Chennai on Monday, one each in Mylapore, Royapuram, and Vyasarpadi.