Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday fell in line with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s diktat of rescinding the Delhi Cabinet’s decision to restrict treatment and admission at city hospitals to the “bona fide citizens” of the national capital.
Terming it as “a big challenge” to confront surging coronavirus cases in Delhi given the existing healthcare infrastructure of the city, Mr. Kejriwal also sought to appeal to both his party and the Opposition to “remain united” failing which “corona would win.”
Mr. Baijal’s decision would be “implemented in letter and spirit,” the Chief Minister added, even as he announced he would “go out on the ground” over the coming days. Mr. Kejriwal has been criticised several times by the Opposition for allegedly not having stepped out of his residence for months since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
“Yesterday, there was a meeting of the SDMA (State Disaster Management Authority), I was supposed to go but couldn’t; the statistics which were presented there showed that coronavirus is going to spread rapidly in Delhi over the coming days,” he said.
“There are expected to be 5 lakh COVID patients till July 31, by when we will need 81,000 beds; the challenge is big; we have to make this a people’s movement. Not only do we have to follow norms like social distancing and wearing masks but we have to encourage others around us to do so too,” he added.
He said the Delhi Cabinet had decided that during the coronavirus pandemic, the city’s hospitals should be allowed to be used only by its citizens; this was reversed by the Central government and the LG. Since the Centre had made a decision in this regard and the LG had passed orders, it was time to implement and not bicker, he said and advised party members not to adopt a confrontational approach on the issue.
“This is not the time to bicker about this; what has been done has been done. The decision of the Centre, the LG, has to be followed and implemented in letter and spirit.
“I want to tell people in my government, the party not to contest this decision; the chalenge is big, this is not the time for disagreements. All I can say is that we will try our best to do this; I will step out from tomorrow or day after myself; I will go to stadiums myself and get them ready,” he added.
There could be many shortcomings in the Delhi government’s deeds, but not in its intentions, he said. The Delhi Chief Minister also appealed to his counterparts in neighboring states to try and ensure that their residents avoided coming to Delhi if necessary.
He also thanked the media for bringing out “deficiencies and issues“ with the Delhi government’s work to light and giving it “a lot of scope for improvement” and the opportunity to “mend the system.”
“Over the last 8 days, 1,800 people got beds but 150-200 also had to run from pillar to post for beds. When such stories are shown in the media, we make sure to follow each one. We try and learn from such instances; to remedy issues with our system. We are not perfect. I request the media to keep doing their job in this respect,” he said.
“The most important thing is that this is not the time to bicker. If we keep fighting among ourselves, corona will win. When this happens the common man watches and wonders: these parties are fighting among themselves instead of thinking about my well-being? We have to remain united; if we get divided or bicker among ourselves, corona will win,” he added.
