A 12-year-old girl has died for want of food, medicines, and financial help, all of which were denied to her as she did not have an updated Aadhaar card – an entitlement and identity card in India – that required a retina scan.
Now the Delhi High Court has sought a reply from the Delhi government on the death and the causes surrounding it in response to a public interest petition filed on the incident.
The girl died on July 1 at Swamy Dayanand Hospital at Shahdara, where she was rushed following a seizure. Taking note of the facts, a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to the Delhi government and sought its stand by July 14.
The bench asked the Delhi government to come with a solution to the grievances raised in the petition by Saurabh Singh who said during the lockdown and the relaxed period thereafter, persons with disabilities, have been unable to access the food centers nor have they been able to avail any help in terms of ration or financial help.
Advocate Kabir Ghosh, appearing for Singh, told the bench that the instant petition was first sought to be urgently heard on June 30, but the request was denied, and subsequently, on July 1 afternoon, the girl died.
The petition has contended several persons with disabilities in the city have not received any support as they do not have ration cards or disability certificates. It has alleged that even persons with disability certificates have been denied their disability pension.
