Demand for hospitals, shortage of doctors, lack of machines or malfunctioning ones and unavailability of medicines at government hospitals remained the primary concerns of opposition BJP MLAs on the third day of the budget session of Delhi Assembly.
Apart from cornering the government on bad health facilities in goverenment hospitals, the MLAs demanded a separate health scheme for themselves, independent of Delhi government employees’ health scheme.
Saheb Singh Chauhan, Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal, Dharam Dev Solanki and Sat Prakash Rana raised concern over deteriorating health facilities in the city and attacked state health minister A K Walia for all that is wrong.
They even demanded his resignation for failing to improve health standards in government hospitals. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit had to intervene and explain the government’s stand when war of words between Walia and the BJP’s chief whip in the House, Saheb Singh Chauhan, got personal.
Raising the matter, BJP MLA from Palam, Solanki, demanded to know why a hospital named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the foundation stone for which was laid by Dikshit four years ago in Dwarka, had failed to come up.
“Four years ago, you laid the foundation stone for the hospital named after your great leader Indira Gandhi. But as of today, there is neither a hospital nor a foundation stone there. Now, you announce six new hospitals. When will you make them,” asked Solanki.
When Walia said the estimates for the hospital are being made, opposition members stood up and demanded to know why it was taking so long to make the estimates.
According to Chauhan, going by the government’s pace of work, the recently-announced new hospitals will take a decade to be built. “Work on the new hospitals will begin this year,” said Walia.
‘The poor turned away’
Another BJP MLA, Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal, alleged that no poor patients were being treated at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. Walia replied that a notice has been issued to the hospital, and if it doesn’t obey, action will be taken.
MLA Sat Prakash Rana complained that despite availability of land in his constituency, the government is not sanctioning a hospital there and people have to go far for treatment. Several other MLAs also cornered the health minister over lack of facilities in several east Delhi hospitals.
Chauhan demanded a separate health insurance scheme for legislators. “There are anomalies in the MLAs’ health scheme and it will be prudent to give elected members a scheme separate from the Delhi government employees’ one,” said Chauhan. Walia said he will give it a thought.
