Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: AAP’s Delhi convener Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday slammed BJP govt for scrapping the Farishtey scheme, which, he claimed, had saved lives of nearly 10,000 people who met with road accidents, evoking strong reaction from BJP.
Bharadwaj alleged that in 2023, BJP, then in opposition, had tried to halt the scheme through the LG’s office by stopping its funding, and had eventually scrapped it after assuming office. “The decision to end such a crucial life-saving initiative could only come from someone with an inhumane perspective. The Farishtey scheme successfully preserved nearly 10,000 lives by 2021,” he said. “BJP should understand that road accidents do not discriminate between who is from AAP, BJP or Congress, and can affect anyone,” he added.
Hitting back, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that in the name of public welfare, all schemes implemented by former CM Arvind Kejriwal had turned out to be avenues for scams, and “Farishtey” was one such scheme that had also “exposed its claims of a world-class health model”.
Introduced in 2017, the scheme covered the entire treatment cost of accident victims in private hospitals, encouraging bystanders to assist them without fear of financial burden. Bharadwaj said the scheme ensured that road accident victims received immediate, free treatment at private hospitals, with all expenses covered by Delhi govt.
He said, “A few years ago, an accident took place in Delhi. The victim was taken to a Delhi govt hospital, but he did not receive treatment. He was then taken to another hospital run by Delhi govt, where again, he was denied treatment. After that, he was taken to a hospital under central govt, but he did not receive treatment there either.”
He continued, “He was taken to yet another central govt hospital, but even there, he was not treated, and he succumbed to his injuries. This incident was widely covered in the media and was heard in high court for a long time. The court gave several directions on the matter.”
Bharadwaj said the Farishtey scheme was introduced to address such failures in emergency healthcare. “However, now the newly formed BJP govt in Delhi has shut it down. As a result, accident victims will no longer get immediate and free treatment at private hospitals, which means thousands of lives will be lost every year.”
Sachdeva alleged that since 2015, Kejriwal govt has been making claims of providing world-class healthcare services. “In this context, the people of Delhi are asking why, if all services were available in govt hospitals, the govt had to introduce the Farishtey Scheme in 2017 to provide immediate free treatment to road accident victims? It is clear that either the govt hospitals were non-functional, or the govt’s intention was to send accident victims to private hospitals, where hefty bills could be generated under the pretext of providing services, thus enabling commission-based corruption,” he said.
He said BJP govt and Delhi Police would provide the best medical facilities to road accident victims through got hospitals.
Mayank Rawat
