Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Switzerland Ambassador Ralf Heckner in Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday and discussed the steps taken by his Government for the effective management of Covid-19, promotion of tourism and dealing with pollution etc.

During the meeting, Ambassador Heckner praised the various steps taken by the Delhi Government to deal with Covid-19 despite difficult circumstances.

Kejriwal spoke about how they did not allow any bed shortages even when Covid was at its peak in the city, with the Delhi Government even launching a mobile application, which helped one find out bed availability in hospitals. He also spoke about how the Delhi Government will implement a Health Information Management System (MIMS) soon, whereby every Delhi citizen will get a health card, detailing their entire medical history.

“The Delhi Government not only succeeded in dealing with Covid-19, but also provided good health facilities to patients in hospitals. The government adopted the method of home isolation to deal with Covid-19. Under this method, serious patients were admitted to the hospital, while under treatment patients were provided treatment at their home. The home isolation method was very successful and later it was adopted in other states of India and outside India,” he said during the meeting.

Kejriwal said that the Delhi government launched an app with the aim of providing beds easily in hospitals. “Information on the current status of available beds and those occupied could be found on the app. Those who were required to be admitted to a hospital could get information about empty beds in the hospital and they could go to the hospital for treatment. The app helped people a lot and there was no shortage of beds for anyone,” he added.

The chief minister also discussed in the measures being taken to tackle pollution in Delhi. Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is serious about controlling pollution in Delhi, with the government taking several steps to combat pollution, including implementing a progressive EV policy.

“The Delhi government is also taking the support of IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Delhi and TERI. Both, IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Delhi have developed a technology, which allows one to identify the actual source of pollution occurring at certain places during a certain period of time. This technique will identify the actual source of pollution at that place at a given time. When the source is known, it will be easy to take necessary steps. Under the pilot project, super sites and mobile sites will be installed in the hotspot areas of Delhi,” he said.

In this meeting, Kejriwal also expressed the need for cooperation to promote tourism in Delhi. He told Ambassador Heckner that the Delhi Government is taking various steps to promote the tourism industry in the city and working on a number of schemes.

He also discussed the Swiss companies working in the tourism sector to invest in Delhi, so that tourism in Delhi can be promoted.