Raising concerns over the misuse of freebies offered by Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government ahead of 2020 assembly elections, Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that the ‘Farishte Dilli Ke’ scheme was being ‘hijacked’ by touts and steps should be taken to prevent misuse.
Delhi Government’s ‘Farishte Dilli Ke’ scheme was launched few weeks back whereby Delhi government was to bear all medical expenses of victims of accidents, acid attacks and burn injuries in Delhi government hospitals. The scheme also gives Rs 2,000 ‘reward’ to good samaritans for taking the victim to hospitals. The HC observed that if someone has a minor injury in their homes, these touts insist that they go to the hospitals. This overburdens the hospitals. The court added that if 10 people are benefitting from a scheme, there may be 40 others who may be misusing it.
The court observed that while Delhi government’s intentions are good, the good samaritan scheme could also be misused. If someone falls down in bathroom, he could be admitted as road accident victim, the court observed.
Pulling up Delhi government, the court said that they should address real concerns like improved hygiene facilities, infrastructure and availability of live-saving equipments. The court was hearing a PIL filed by a school teacher from Karawal Nagar in Delhi highlighting the lack of medical facilities and crumbling infrastructure in Delhi government hospitals.
