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LG says Kejriwal’s decision to reserve hospitals was unconstitutional
Baijal said the overturning of the decision taken by Kejriwal government was necessary as it was against constitutional guarantees of equality and right to life for all.
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has responded to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s criticism of Raj Niwas overturning Delhi government’s decision to reserve Delhi administration-owned hospitals and other general private hospitals in the capital for treatment of the residents of the city-state and said the decision had to be overturned since it was unconstitutional.
A statement issued by the LG’s office clarified its decision in view of the disagreement expressed publicly by Delhi CM. The statement said that the official position on the matter was articulated during the Tuesday meeting of the state disaster management authority (SDMA) headed by the LG in Delhi.
“In the meeting today, it was clarified by Hon’ble Lt. Governor that he had reversed the order of Delhi Government as it violated the constitutional rights of Equality and Right to Life which include Right to Health. A similar directive earlier issued by GNCTD to discriminate in providing healthcare facilities to patients based on their residence was struck down by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” the statement said.
Kejriwal had on Monday said that barring hospitals that are under centre’s control, all Delhi government run hospitals and private hospitals will provide service to residents of Delhi as the pressure on city’s health infrastructure was huge due to the rising number of coronavirus cases.
Baijal, however, scrapped the Delhi government’s order reserving a chunk of the hospital beds in the city for residents of the national capital alleging it was not only unconstitutional but also against a Delhi High Court order that had nixed a similar proposal in 2018. Kejriwal responded to LG’s move claiming it would disadvantage residents of the capital.
“The L-G’s order has created a very big problem and challenge for the people of Delhi. Providing treatment for people coming from all over the country during the coronavirus epidemic is a big challenge. Probably it is God’s will that we serve the people of the entire country. We will try to provide treatment for all,” Kejriwal had said in a tweet after LG’s decision to overturn the decision.
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His Deputy Manish Sisodia had attacked the BJP alleging it had a hand in LG’s decision to overturn Delhi Government’s order.
“What if all beds in Delhi get occupied within 2-3 days by patients from other states and that leads to the death of a Delhi resident who fails to get a hospital bed? Who will take the responsibility,” he had said at a press conference on Monday.
Delhi has around 90,000 beds as per some estimates and half of these are currently empty.
The statement released by Baijal’s office on Tuesday added that it was the responsibility of the State to provide universal healthcare to all patients coming to hospitals in accordance with constitutional provisions. He said this point was explained to Delhi CM Kejriwal in the meeting.
“This was explained to the Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister in today’s SDMA meeting. It is unfortunate that any responsible government should attempt to discriminate amongst patients on grounds of residence. Rather than discriminating between the patients the goal of the government should be to plan and prepare for adequate infrastructure. We are all Indians and Delhi belongs to all,” the statement said.
The statement further adds that the Lt. Governor is fully aware of the need to ramp up medical infrastructure to meet the rising requirement and claims that Tuesday’s SDMA meeting discussed ideas like using spaces like Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Tyagraj Stadium, JLN Stadium and Pragati Maidan to make large makeshift medical facilities.
“It was also decided to utilize banquet halls, marriage places, etc. to ramp up the facilities,” the statement adds.
