Taking away the burden from government hospitals in the Capital, the Delhi government on Saturday made surgeries free in 48 private hospitals. So, next time if any government hospital asks you to wait for a month to get a surgery done, you can immediately move to a nearby private hospital and avail the treatment without waiting for it.

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The health scheme launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday will focus on improving health facilities across the Capital. Kejriwal announced on Saturday that Delhi residents won't have to wait for life-saving surgeries in government hospitals as they can get them done for free in private ones.

He added that if any patient doesn't get a date for surgery at a government hospital within a month, the hospital would refer them to private hospitals and the government would pay all the expenses.

"We want to ensure that people, irrespective of their economic status, get the best health and education facilities and this is a step in that direction," the Aam Aadmi Party leader said.

He added that this was the third in a series of initiatives taken by the Delhi government, after ensuring free medicines in all government hospitals and allowing free medical tests at private diagnostic centres.

Responding to criticism that the money paid to private hospitals for treatment could be used to augment government ones, Kejriwal said the government hospitals would receive as much money as needed to boost their infrastructure. "It would take years to create that infrastructure while patients need immediate attention. So this step is aimed to provide immediate relief on a temporary basis," he said.

"We want to create such healthcare system that all patients get all medical tests within the hospitals and get dates for surgeries within a month," he added.