Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has called a meeting with all political parties today at 3 pm to discuss the present situation of Coronavirus in Delhi and measures to contain the spread of the same.
This comes a day after he overruled two controversial orders of the Arvind Kejriwal government on reserving Delhi government-run and private hospitals in the national capital for Delhiites and allowing COVID-19 test for only symptomatic patients.
Baijal said the “treatment should not be denied to any patient on grounds of being a non-resident”.
Over-ruling Kejriwal’s order, Baijal cited a Delhi High Court ruling and said, “The Delhi High Court in a writ petition ‘Social Jurist, a Civil Rights Group versus GNCTD and Another’ after examining constitutional provisions in details, especially Article 14 and 21, after looking at jurisprudence in this regard, has held that denying patients medical treatment on ground of not being resident of NCT of Delhi is impermissible.”
Baijal, also the Chairman of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, made it clear that the Supreme Court has invariably held in several successive judgements that ‘Right to Health’ is an integral part of ‘Right to Life’ under Article 21 of the Constitution.
“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 18(3) of the Disaster Management Act, the undersigned in his capacity as the Chairperson of the DDMA, hereby directs all departments and authorities concerned of NCT of Delhi, to ensure that monitoring / treatment is not denied to any patient on the ground of not being a resident of NCT of Delhi,” the order said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Sunday informed that for now Delhi hospitals will be available only for the residents of the city. At the same time, he clarified that hospitals run by the Centre will have no such restriction, and if people from other states come to the national capital for specific surgeries, they can get medical treatment at private hospitals.
He also said private hospitals, except those where surgeries like neurosurgery, are performed would also be kept reserved for Delhi residents.
Health minister Satyendar Jain had also defended the state government’s decision saying, “Given the cases, hospitals are needed for Delhiites. Neighboring states say they have less cases so it shouldn’t be issue.”
Meanwhile, the decision was slammed both by the Congress and BJP, who questioned the definition of being a Delhiite.
The L-G in his order said that all government, private hospitals and nursing homes and clinics situated in the national capital of Delhi have to extend medical facilities to all COVID-19 patients coming for monitoring and treatment without any discrimination of being resident or non-resident of Delhi.
The L-G’s decision to overrule the Kejriwal government has been welcomed by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir. “Excellent step by LG to overrule Delhi Govt’s idiotic order of not treating patients from other states! India is ONE and we have to fight this pandemic together!”
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal also overruled the city government’s order for coronavirus testing only for symptomatic patients, saying it deviated from the guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
He said this deviation from the ICMR guidelines can result in inadequate contact tracing of affected individuals and can result in further spread of COVID-19 in the national capital.
Baijal said all nine categories people, including asymptomatic, as prescribed by the ICMR should be examined in the national capital.
CM Kejriwal had said the city’s testing capacity is limited and it will be overwhelmed if everyone went for the test, adding that asymptomatic persons should not go for it.
Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had on Monday informed about a meeting of State Disaster Management Authority to be held today on the Coronavirus situation and to discuss whether there is community spread in Delhi.
Sisodia, who will also attend the meeting, further said that if the participating experts are of the opinion that there is community spread in Delhi, then the strategy will change.
Delhi government has allowed the reopening of places of worship, restaurants and shopping malls in the national capital. However, hotels and banquet halls will remain closed.
Delhi has seen a spurt in Coronavirus cases and over 1,000 new cases daily for the past few days.
There are currently 29,943 cases and 874 people have died of the deadly infection.