Raghav Chadha seeks legal right for annual health checkups for all

AAP MP Raghav Chadha has called for making annual health checkups a legal right to prevent diseases. He also slammed quick commerce apps for exploiting gig workers, calling for a ban on the 10-minute delivery model.

In a significant call for healthcare reform, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha has urged the government to make annual health checkups a legal right for all citizens. Speaking in an exclusive interview with ANI, Chadha highlighted the alarming rise in sudden health-related incidents, particularly among young people, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Call for Legal Right to Annual Health Checkups

"Since COVID-19, we've seen so many reports of grooms dying of heart attacks at their wedding ceremonies, or young people dying of heart attacks while playing sports. Sometimes, a youth while playing badminton, cricket or sports, faints suddenly. Sometimes, a person when admitted in hospital during emergency get to know that they have diabetes, blood pressure, cancer," Chadha said.

The AAP MP further explained that preventive healthcare through regular checkups could drastically reduce the burden of long-term diseases. He proposed that the government create a robust mechanism to ensure that every Indian has access to these essential health services.

Raghav Chadha said, "If we provide annual health checkups as a legal right to the citizens of this country, then many such adversities can be prevented. That is why I have demanded that annual health checkups should be made a legal right. If every citizen of this country gets a complete health check-up done once every year, then it is possible that the disease which may take a very serious form 10 years from now, can be cured by taking just two medicines. A mechanism should be created where every Indian should have access to annual health check-up."

Criticism of Quick Commerce and Gig Worker 'Tyranny'

The AAP MP also criticised the quick commerce applications for being "tyrannical" towards their employees and reiterated his call to ban 10-minute delivery apps, claiming that the same companies have been oppressing gig workers and shooting up their evaluations on their backs, enriching only the companies.

"In today's time, Swiggy Zomato delivery boys, Blinkit Zepto riders, Ola Uber drivers, are a workforce on the back of which these big companies have become unicorns; they have got billion-dollar valuations. In this entire ecosystem that has been created, if there's one group of people who are oppressed and under immense pressure, it's the gig workers," AAP MP said during an exclusive interview with ANI.

Impact of 10-Minute Delivery Model

Due to the guarantee of 10-minute delivery, a gig worker engages in reckless driving, becomes increasingly anxious, risks losing incentives, and also faces abuse from customers if the delivery is late, while not even getting any regular worker protections, Chadha said.

"Today, the biggest problem they face is the tyranny of this 10-minute delivery system. To deliver goods to you in 10 minutes, that person engages in dangerous driving, becomes a patient of anxiety, and experiences a fluctuating heart rate. There are many problems they face to be there for your delivery. If they are even one minute late, they fear being logged out of the app, fear losing their incentives, and also face abuse from customers, get fewer ratings," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)