Delhi cabinet approves creation of Delhi Healthcare Corporation

Delhi will soon have a government body in place for centralised support services for all its hospitals and dispensaries. The Delhi Cabinet recently approved the formation of a public limited company called the Delhi Healthcare Corporation (DHC). The corporation, adopted in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, will provide support services to the health department like procurement of drugs, consumables, surgicals, equipments, procurement of sanitation services, security services and nursing orderlies. States like Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh already have such bodies, which are hailed for making healthcare better and more affordable.

“The purpose of this corporation is to make available non-clinical services like generic drugs, equipments and quality sanitation services on a 24x7 basis to the residents of the national capital, who go to health institutions controlled by the Delhi government for treatment,” said a statement issued by the state government.

The authorised share capital of DHC will be Rs. 5 crore. The Department of Health and Family Welfare will enter into a contract agreement with the corporation to perform different services on its behalf.

The formation of the corporation was an election promise of the Aam Aadmi Party as an effort towards controlling corruption in the health sector.