The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Delhi is very expensive, very unkind’ to poor outsiders

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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New Delhi

‘Delhi is very expensive, very unkind’ to poor outsiders

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

They are the latest casualty of the escalating inflation

- Photo: V. V. Krishnan

Down and out: Patients from neighbouring states outside the OPD at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Every day hundreds of poor families who come to the Capital seeking medical care in government hospitals here are forced to return home as they are unable to sustain themselves in a hugely expensive metropolitan city battling soaring inflation and price rise.

Becoming one of the countless casualties here of the escalating inflation, the poor patients and their escorts from the neighbouring cities and towns rue that they have to sustain themselves during their stay here by selling off their assets and borrowing money.

And sometimes despite all of this, they have to abandon treatment midway because they “come unprepared for the high cost of living in Delhi”.

“We have been in the Capital for about a month now for treatment of my wife who has been diagnosed with a damaged kidney. We are completely dependent on our own resources for carrying on the treatment, bearing the cost of a rented accommodation, food and transportation. Besides the costs associated with the treatment, the burden of staying in a costly city has left us virtually in a hand-to-mouth condition. I can’t remember the last time I had a good or full meal. With our limited resources, Delhi is too expensive for us to carry on. If my wife’s treatment is not complete soon we will have to stop it midway and return home,” says Jageshwar Sahil from Bihar whose wife is under treatment at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Jageshwar is not alone. Vishwanath Baba, also from Bihar, has brought his son for treatment at AIIMS. She is not sure how he will be able to sustain himself and his son for another week in the city.

“Delhi is a very expensive city and very unkind to the poor. Prices of essential goods here seem to increase every day by a rupee and more. A plate of rice costing Rs.15 is sufficient only for a little child. How can two grown-up men live on this diet? We have been in Delhi for 10 days now and have been living outside the hospital’s waiting room because rents are too high. I don’t know how long we can live in Delhi with the soaring prices of essential goods. This could well be our last week in the city,” says Vishwanath.

“The problem that these patients face is nothing new,” says AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association president Kumar Harsh. “The hospital has limited space and resources and the heavy patient load does not allow everyone coming here to make use of the government facility. So several patients are left to fend for themselves. Rising costs of essential commodities have hit the poorest of the poor the hardest. We have seen several cases where people have had to sell off everything to sustain themselves in the city for the sake of treatment.” A senior health official said: “Half the patients who come to the tertiary care hospitals in the Capital are those being referred by smaller hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab and other States. While medical treatment in the government set-up is free, they have to bear the expense of their travel, food and lodging. Also patients under treatment will have specific needs which may not be covered in the government set-up and would add to the overall expenditure.” Worst hit are the poorest of the poor – “Antyodaya” Card holders -- most of whom are part of the unorganised sector and have to give up their daily wages every time they bring their ailing family member to Delhi for treatment.

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