The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, on Monday expressed concern over the state government not being able to implement Centre’s NIC-designed free software, Health Information Management System (HIMS), across all its hospitals.

He raised several questions with regard to the lack of execution of the HIMS, noting that due to the non-implementation of the same, millions of patients have been deprived of its benefits over the past decade. He further pointed out that the AAP government had announced in 2016 that the application would be used in Delhi hospitals to ensure the digital preservation of patient data and facilitate services, however, due to AAP dispensation’s alleged apathetic approach, the system has not been initiated to date.

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Holding the government accountable, he asked why the project was abandoned despite announcing its implementation in 2016. He further questioned why the government disregarded the Chief Secretary’s recommendation to implement this system.

The BJP leader wondered as to why despite being successfully used in over 738 government hospitals across the country, it is not adopted in the national capital’s hospitals. He expressed suspicion over the AAP government, alleging that it was intentionally stalling the project to favor specific private entities.

The BJP leader further said that the software was being successfully used in prominent hospitals like AIIMS and the Safdarjung, and asked why Delhi government hospitals like LNJP and GTB failed to adopt it. The LOP also questioned the government on what arrangements are in place to maintain and track the records of patients in its hospitals.

Expressing regret over the issue, he stated that despite the announcement in the 2016-17 budget, the Delhi government has failed to implement it, adding that four months ago, both the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of the Health Department had expressed concerns over delays in implementation and recommended its execution. Gupta added that the Delhi government recently faced criticism from the High Court over these delays.