LG calls all-party meeting on Delhi Covid situation at 3 p.m.

New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday called a meeting with all political parties to discuss the present situation of COVID-19 in the national capital and measures to contain its spread.

The meeting will be convened at 3 p.m. Baijal had, on Monday, issued an order which struck down key announcements made by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government to reserve beds in private and Delhi government hospitals for city residents.

The Lt Governor, who is also the Chairman of Delhi Disaster Management Authority, had in his order, said that “treatment should not be denied to any patient on grounds of being a non-resident”.

“The Delhi High Court in a writ petition after examining constitutional provisions in details, especially Article 14 and 21, has held that denying patients medical treatment on ground of not being resident of NCT of Delhi is impermissible,” the order stated.

L-G Baijal’s order against reserving beds for residents of Delhi drew a sharp reaction from the AAP government.

Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia hit out at Baijal saying: “BJP state governments are involved in PPE and ventilator scams. The Delhi government is trying to manage the disaster. The BJP is not able to bear it. Therefore, it has indulged in cheap politics by pressurising the LG.”

The BJP, on the other hand, welcomed Baijal’s decision and said it would give a big relief to people. “It was against civil rights of people,” BJP’s newly-appointed state President Adesh Kumar Gupta said about the Chief Minister’s decision.

Gupta said the BJP had been already seeking a rollback of the move. He was critical of the manner in which the Kejriwal government had “tried to cover up its inefficiency” by blocking the testing of asymptomatic people and the treatment of people from outside the city.

–IANS

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