Reserving Delhi hospitals for Delhiites challenged in HC

June 9, 2020 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

A day before reopening the borders, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that hospitals in Delhi will be reserved for Delhiites. These hospitals include those run by the Delhi government and private entities.

The government issued an order barring the admission of non-Delhiites to hospitals run by the Delhi government.

However, there is no such restriction for the hospitals run by the central government and people from other states who come from medical treatment can use these hospitals.

Kejriwal said that more than 90 per cent of people want hospitals run by the government and private entities in Delhi to treat patients from the national capital. Hence, the treatment in these hospitals has been restricted to patients from this area.

There are 40 Delhi government-run hospitals in the national capital. These hospitals have 10,000 beds. At the same time, the hospitals run by the Centre in Delhi also have the same number of beds.

Hence, people from other states can visit these hospitals for their treatment. They can admit there if needed. Then, the medical needs of people in Delhi and other states who visit NCR for healthcare will be balanced.

In this context, a list of documents has been issued by the Delhi government for the people to get admission in Delhi government-run hospitals.

Kejriwal’s decision has been criticized by many political parties. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asked the clarification on the word Delhiites.

He asked whether people who live or work in Delhi come under Delhiites. He added that the Delhi government should have to take legal opinion before announcing the decision.

Advocates Shashwat Anand and Gautam Kumar challenged the order of Delhi government in the High Court.

Another advocate and social worker sent a legal notice to the Delhi government demanding to withdraw the order.

Image credit: indianexponent.com / CC BY SA 2.0