Why is ration card necessary for aid under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, asks Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Friday questioned why having a ration card was necessary for a citizen to avail financial benefits under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi RAN and sought the stand of the Centre and city government on plea by a below poverty line cancer patient to declare the mandate illegal and unconstitutionalJustice Yashwant Varma issued notice on the petition by the 30yearold woman whose request to AIIMS for financial aid under the scheme was rejected on account of nonavailability of a ration card and granted time to the respondents to file their replyThe court observed that without a ration card the petitioner would not get the benefit under RAN which would defeat the scheme itselfRAN provides financial assistance to patients living below poverty line and who are suffering from major life threatening diseases to receive treatment at any super speciality hospital or other government hospitals The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of a onetime grant which is released to the hospital concernedThe judge noted that Delhi has already reached its limit with respect to the issuance of ration cards and asked What happens to someone without a ration cardWhat is this necessary If you want to find out the details of the family then there are other documents Why is ration card important the court questionedThe petitioner in her plea filed through advocates Ashok Agarwal and Kumar Utkarsh said she needs blood and platelets from outside and since no medicine is working on her the only way to save her life is through Immunomodulation which will cost around Rs 15 lakhsDelhi government counsel said that its representation to the central government seeking an increase in the limit imposed on the ration cards to be issued has been rejectedIn the plea the petitioner said the mandate under RAN to provide a ration card besides an income certificate when one of such document is sufficient to prove the financial status is arbitrary discriminatory unconstitutional illegal irrational having no nexus with the object underlying therein opposed to public policy and contrary to public interestThe plea added that on account of the Centre not extending new ration cards beyond the limit of 7277995 persons the petitioners family could not be issued a new ration card for no fault of their ownIt is also to mention here that respondent Government of NCT of Delhi had requested respondent Union of India to increase the threshold limit of ration card beneficiaries but the same was consequently denied Due to this issue petitioner could not be issued a new ration card resulting in nonacceptance of application under RAN scheme for grant of aid for treatment at AIIMS the plea saidThe matter would be heard next on August 31This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever