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A plea was moved in the Delhi High Court challenging a provision of the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) scheme that requires both income certificate and ration card to presented for the grant of financial assistance to critical patients.
The plea stated that one such document is sufficient to prove the financial status, but clause 7 of the RAN Scheme states that it is compulsory for the Ration Card to be levied for granting financial aid to the person possessing Income Certificate and belonging from below the poverty line. The bench of Justice Yashwant Varma on Friday sought the response of the Union of India, Delhi Government and AIIMS on the petition of a 30-year-old Cancer patient Poonam challenging the twin requirements. The Court fixed the matter for August 31, 2022, for a detailed hearing. The petitioner through Advocate Ashok Aggarwal and Advocate Kumar Utkarsh sought direction to the Union of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and respondent All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to accept the application of the petitioner for granting aid under the RAN Scheme and decide the same expeditiously and also to provide free of costs Immunomodulation (ATG + CsA + EPAG therapy) treatment to the petitioner. The plea also stated that mandatory condition for the submission of both Income Certificate and Ration Card along with application to avail financial aid under the RAN Scheme is totally arbitrary, unreasonable, unjust, and violative of Articles 14, 21, 38, 39, 41 and 47 of the Constitution of India. It further submitted that petitioner is in dire need of treatment and for the same, if financial aid under RAN Scheme is not provided only on the grounds of non-production of the Ration Card, the petitioner will lose her life, the plea said. It also submitted that the impugned actions/inactions on part of respondents are unreasonable since Income Certificate clearly indicates the financial position of the petitioner's family is below the poverty line, it added. (ANI)
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