Delhi's borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana will open from Monday but hospitals, except those run by the Centre, here will only treat patients from the national capital, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday.

While malls, restaurants and religious places will open in the city in accordance with the Centre's guidelines, hotels and banquets will remain closed as the Delhi government might need to convert them into hospitals in coming time, he said.

'Over 90 per cent people want Delhi hospitals to treat patients from the national capital during the coronavirus pandemic. Hence, it has been decided that government and private hospitals in Delhi will only treat patients from the national capital,' Kejriwal said at an online press conference.

He said if people from other cities come to Delhi for specific surgeries, they will be provided treatment at private hospitals.

'Delhi's health infrastructure is needed to tackle the coronavirus crisis at the moment,' the chief minister said.

Earlier, health rights groups had appealed to the Delhi government not to close its hospitals to patients from outside the capital.

A Delhi government source said an expert committee had in a report to the state government said Delhi’s health infrastructure would be saturated in three days if it remained open to patients from across India.

Delhi High Court had in 2018 shot down an attempt by the Aam Aadmi Party government to reserve for Delhi residents four in every five beds at the state government’s hospitals.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had sealed Delhi’s road borders for a week on June 1 and set up the expert committee, headed by Mahesh Verma, vice-chancellor of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, the next day to evaluate the state’s preparedness to handle the pandemic.

On June 1, Kejriwal had also sought suggestions from the public whether Delhi’s hospitals should be kept open for all amid the pandemic. On Friday, he said that 7.5 lakh suggestions had been received and were being examined.

During the online briefing, Kejriwal announced the opening for border with UP and Haryana.

'The borders of Delhi with UP and Haryana will open from tomorrow. Malls, restaurants and religious places will open too following the central government's guidelines, hotels and banquets will remain closed as we might need them to convert them into hospitals in the coming time,' he said.

The central government has allowed the reopening of shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with the places of religious worship to people from June 8, however, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states.

Govt to withdraw 70% cess on liquor

Liquor in Delhi will be cheaper from June 10 as the AAP government decided on Sunday to withdraw the 70-per cent 'special corona fee' on its sale in the national capital, an official said.

The government, however, increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on all categories of liquor from 20 per cent to 25 per cent from the said date, he added.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Kejriwal.

The 'special corona fee' on the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of liquor bottles was imposed last month as the government, hit badly due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, looked to earn additional revenue.

According to the official, the government earned only Rs 235 crore from liquor, excluding the 'special corona fee', last month.

The sale of liquor was allowed from May 4, when the third phase of the nationwide lockdown began. On May 5, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government imposed the 'special corona fee' on liquor.

According to the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), there was a 58-per cent decline in the sale of liquor due to the 'special corona fee' in the national capital in May.

'The sale of liquor was being affected due to the special corona fee and that is why the government has decided to withdraw it from June 10,' another government official said.

Sources in the excise department said due to the higher 'special corona fee', people were buying liquor from nearby cities, where it is cheaper.

CIABC director general Vinod Giri welcomed the Delhi government's decision.

'We welcome the decision of the government to remove the 70 per cent cess in Delhi. We had repeatedly pointed out that such a steep increase will turn out to be counter-productive as it would lead to a fall in liquor sales and government revenues.

'We are indeed very pleased to note that the government has responded promptly and appropriately to remove the cess and substitute it with a tax increase, which is reasonable and within our recommendations,' he said.

This once again demonstrates that the government is alive and sensitive to the interests of the state, industry, trade, and consumers and has the courage to take prompt action in the interest of all the stakeholders, Giri added.