Picture : Twitter / ANI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has warned of strong action against such “black-marketing of beds” . This statement came amidst reports that couple of private hospitals in Delhi are refusing admission to COVID-19 patients and demanding lakhs of rupees for allotting bed to those in a pressing need.
Asserting that there is no dearth of hospital beds in the national capital to treat COVID-19 patients, he said the Delhi government would deploy medical professionals at each private hospital to keep a tab on available beds.
He said the government has come to know of a few hospitals refusing admission to COVID-19 patients and indulging in “black-marketing of beds”.
“We will take strong action against such hospitals and they cannot refuse patients. Some time will be needed to break the mafia who are indulging in it. These few hospitals have political connections but they should not be under illusion that their political masters can save them,” he said in a virtual press briefing.
He, however, added that most of the private hospitals in Delhi were good and only a couple of them were indulging in such malpractice.
Kejriwal strongly defended the launch of the app to find bed for patients saying, We launched a mobile App to stop the black marketing of beds. We thought of making the information about number of beds and ventilators in hospitals transparent. There was uproar over it as if we committed a crime.
