Nurses attending to non-COVID patients not entitled to Centre's insurance scheme: HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday said nurses not dealing with COVID-19 patients cannot be included in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, which provides for a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to frontline health workers, as doing so might affect the very budget of the scheme.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said it ought to be kept in mind that such schemes are formulated on the basis of availability of funds.

"If more persons have to be included, budget of the scheme will be affected. Therefore, it is a policy decision to be taken by the respondent (Centre) whether to include other nurses or not," it said, adding that "this court will be slow to interfere with a policy decision".

The court said such health workers who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients are at a high risk of getting infected and are a class unto themselves and it is for them the insurance benefits have been extended.

The observation came while disposing of a PIL by an NGO, Distress Management Collective, which had sought that the benefit of the scheme be extended to nurses working in private hospitals and nursing homes, whether in direct contact with coronavirus patients or not, and that the insurance premium be paid by the authorities at least for the limited period during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The plea had also sought setting up of a helpline on which the nurses can raise their grievances or lodge a complaint with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), which the court asked Delhi government to consider.

The NGO had alleged that the Centre and the Delhi government have a "discriminatory approach" towards nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes as compared to those working in state-run facilities. Besides, it had said that some private facilities were providing used PPE kits to the healthcare workers.