Gorakhpur won’t be repeated, says Satyendar Jain

New Delhi: Asserting that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi will not let a tragedy like Gorakhpur happen in Delhi, the city government has decided to pay medical suppliers within 45 days and also increase funds for hospitals to buy new equipment to Rs 1 crore, health minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.

Mr Jain said the decisions were taken in a review meeting of Delhi government hospitals chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said the vendors, who supply commodities to hospitals, are currently paid within 30-60 days, adding it will be reduced to a maximum of 45 days.

“Gorakhpur won’t be repeated in Delhi. We have been conducting regular inspections,” Mr Jain said. He said the small hospitals can currently purchase equipment worth `10 lakh while the big hospitals can purchase equipment worth Rs 50 lakh. The health minister added that the amount has been increased to Rs 1 crore for both categories.

Mr Jain also said that a helpline number would be soon started for any hospital-related complaints and added that the availability of medicines was 90-95 per cent. “The helpline number would be run through call centres and it would be monitored every day by the chief minister,” he said. Mr Jain said that things were under control and emergency wards of all hospitals were working fine.

Mr Jain said, earlier, in certain cases, if the payment would get delayed, it would be made, sometimes by 60 days. “We are all prepared, from regular to emergency services. We would never allow a Gorakhpur-like situation to occur in Delhi,’ he said.

Many of the deaths at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh government. The city is battling rising cases of vector-borne diseases, but the health minister said the Delhi government is “well-prepared” to face any situation and people should not panic.