New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to Delhi lieutenant governor’s office and others on a plea by the AAP government for release of funds for its ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ scheme. The scheme provides free treatment to accident victims.
A bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Sudhanshu Dhulia said, “We don’t understand this, one wing of the government is fighting with another wing of the government”. The apex court sought response from Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, the Delhi government’s Directorate General of Health Services and others.
During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, contended before the bench “I keep on writing and begging. They stop payments. How is health under LG?” Singhvi stressed that this is completely social welfare and no politics is involved. He said that 23,000 road accident victims have been provided cashless treatment in private hospitals under the ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ scheme.
The ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ scheme encourages people to rescue road accident victims. The government, under the scheme, foots hospital bills of those who have met with accidents in the city.
The plea contended that hospitals are now reluctant to accept accident victims and this scheme has practically become defunct for more than a year since payments to the majority of the hospitals have not been made. The plea sought immediate re-operationalisation of the scheme by clearing pending bills, releasing timely payments to private hospitals and initiating disciplinary action against officials responsible for deliberately orchestrating the “de-operationalisation” of the scheme.
The plea contended that despite repeated reminders and directions by the Department of Health and Family Welfare and the concerned minister regarding clearance of pending bills of the private hospitals, the defaulting officials neither cleared the pending bills nor made timely payments to the private hospitals, which have provided cashless treatment to victims of road accidents.
