Delhi Arogya Nidhi (DAN)

What is Delhi Arogya Nidhi?

Delhi Arogya Nidhi (DAN) is a medical financial assistance scheme of the Government of NCT of Delhi, administered by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Department of Health and Family Welfare. According to the official DAN guidelines published by the Delhi health department, the scheme provides financial assistance of up to Rs 1.5 lakh to needy patients who hold a National Food Security Card, for the treatment of diseases in government hospitals only.

Delhi Arogya Nidhi exists for a specific problem: a poor patient is admitted to a Delhi government hospital, the treatment itself is subsidised, but a single high-cost item. An implant, a stent, a prosthesis, a course of chemotherapy, a surgical consumable; is beyond the family's means. The scheme pays against the hospital's own certified estimate for that treatment, so the family does not have to arrange the money privately or abandon the procedure.

The scheme is often written as "Dilli Arogya Nidhi" in Hindi transliteration, and readers frequently confuse it with the central government's Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi and with Delhi's own Delhi Arogya Kosh. All three are different funds with different ceilings and different sanctioning bodies, and the differences matter when you decide where to file.

Key features

• Ceiling of Rs 1.5 lakh per patient.
• Restricted to treatment in government hospitals in Delhi.
• Requires 3 years of continuous residence in Delhi immediately before the date of application.
• Entirely offline, there is no online DAN portal.
• Assistance is released against a certified hospital estimate, not paid as open cash to the patient.

Who is eligible for Delhi Arogya Nidhi?

You can apply if:

• The patient holds a National Food Security Card. The DGHS Citizen Charter records an alternative route for patients who instead hold an income certificate of up to Rs 1 lakh per annum issued by the Revenue Department, GNCTD.
• The patient is a resident of Delhi and can furnish documentary proof of residing in Delhi continuously for the last 3 years, counted backwards from the date the application is submitted.
• The treatment is being taken from a government hospital in Delhi.
• A treating consultant, Medical Superintendent or Chief Medical Officer of that hospital is willing to sign the estimate certificate on the prescribed proforma.

Minors are eligible. Where the patient is a minor and therefore has no voter card, the guidelines accept a birth certificate as the identity document alongside the other residence proofs.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• The patient is taking treatment in a private hospital or nursing home. The DAN guidelines restrict assistance to government hospitals in Delhi, without exception.
• The patient has no National Food Security Card and no income certificate within the prescribed limit.
• The patient cannot prove 3 years of continuous residence in Delhi. A recent Delhi address is not enough; the proof must cover the full three-year period before the application date.
• The treatment is being taken outside Delhi, even in a government hospital of another state.
• The application carries no signed original estimate certificate from the treating hospital. The estimate is the document the entire sanction is built on.

The income ceiling has been publicly criticised as too low. In 2024 the Delhi High Court described the income threshold for Arogya Nidhi assistance as extremely low while hearing a matter on medical aid to poor patients. Readers should treat the Rs 1 lakh income-certificate route as the position stated in the DGHS Citizen Charter and confirm the current figure at the Patient Welfare Cell before filing, since the ceiling is the one criterion most likely to be revised.

What documents are required for Delhi Arogya Nidhi?

The guidelines are explicit on one point that trips up families: photocopies are attached to the application, but the originals must be carried on the day of submission for verification. An application handed over without the originals present is usually returned the same day.

How to apply for Delhi Arogya Nidhi

1. Get admitted or registered at a Delhi government hospital and start the treatment or the pre-operative workup, since the estimate must come from the treating institution.
2. Ask the treating Consultant, the Medical Superintendent or the Chief Medical Officer to issue the Estimate Certificate on the DGHS prescribed proforma, stating the specific treatment and the amount required. Get two photographs of the patient attested by the treating doctor at the same time.
3. Obtain the DAN application proforma and fill it completely, including the undertaking for signature verification printed in the form.
4. Assemble the residence proof covering three continuous years, National Food Security Card, voter card, an extract from the electoral roll or Aadhaar — plus a photocopy of the National Food Security Card and photocopies of the treatment record.
5. Submit the complete file in person at the Patient Welfare Cell, Room No 1, 6th Floor, Directorate of Health Services, F-17, Karkardooma (near Karkardooma Court), Delhi 110032, carrying all originals for verification.
6. Keep the acknowledgement and follow up with the Patient Welfare Cell, quoting the patient's name and the hospital, until the sanction is communicated to the hospital.

How is Delhi Arogya Nidhi money paid out?

Delhi Arogya Nidhi assistance is sanctioned against the certified estimate and routed towards the treatment, rather than being credited to the patient as free cash. Because the ceiling is Rs 1.5 lakh, an estimate above that figure is not automatically refused, the sanction is simply capped, and the family must arrange the balance or apply in parallel to another fund such as Delhi Arogya Kosh or the central Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi.

Timing matters more than in most welfare schemes. An estimate certificate goes stale: if the surgery date moves, or the treatment plan changes after a fresh investigation, the Patient Welfare Cell will normally want a revised estimate from the hospital. Families should file as soon as the estimate is issued rather than collecting documents over several weeks.

How to check the status of a Delhi Arogya Nidhi application

1. Note the date of submission and the details recorded at the Patient Welfare Cell counter when you hand in the file.
2. Follow up at the same counter: Room No 1, 6th Floor, DGHS, F-17, Karkardooma, with the patient's name, hospital and treatment.
3. Ask the hospital's medical social service officer or Medical Superintendent's office in parallel, since the sanction is communicated to the treating hospital.
4. If there is no movement, escalate in writing to the Directorate General of Health Services at 011-22309220, or by email to the DGHS office at dirdhs@nic.in.

Why Delhi Arogya Nidhi applications get rejected

• Estimate certificate not on the prescribed proforma, or signed by a junior doctor rather than the Consultant, Medical Superintendent or CMO.
• Residence proof short of 3 years, for example an Aadhaar card issued last year with no older document to back it up.
• No National Food Security Card and no valid income certificate, or an income certificate above the prescribed ceiling.
• Private hospital treatment, which is outside the scheme entirely.
• Originals not produced at the time of submission, so the photocopies could not be verified.
• Incomplete treatment record, so the Patient Welfare Cell cannot tie the estimate to a documented course of treatment.

Most rejections are curable. A fresh estimate on the correct proforma, or an older residence document such as an electoral roll extract, usually resolves the objection, and the file can be resubmitted.

Delhi Arogya Nidhi compared with Delhi Arogya Kosh

Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) is a registered society that runs alongside DAN, and patients should check both. According to the DGHS Citizen Charter, Delhi Arogya Kosh provides financial assistance to the extent of Rs 5 lakh to needy eligible patients for any illness, treatment or intervention required by a patient undergoing treatment in a hospital run by the Delhi Government, the Central Government, or an autonomous institute of the state government. Its income criterion is wider: a National Food Security Card or an income certificate of up to Rs 3 lakh per annum issued by the Revenue Department. Like DAN, it requires bona fide residence in Delhi for the last 3 years.

In practice this means a patient treated at AIIMS or another Central Government hospital in Delhi falls outside DAN but may qualify under DAK, and a patient whose family income is between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh a year may fail DAN's income test while clearing DAK's. Families should ask the Patient Welfare Cell which of the two funds fits their case before filing, rather than filing the wrong one and losing weeks.

Help and grievance redressal for Delhi Arogya Nidhi

• Patient Welfare Cell, Room No 1, 6th Floor, Directorate of Health Services, F-17, Karkardooma (near Karkardooma Court), Delhi 110032, the counter that receives and processes DAN applications.
• Directorate General of Health Services, GNCT of Delhi, F-17, Karkardooma, Delhi 110032, telephone 011-22309220, email dirdhs@nic.in.
• Public Grievance Cell of DGHS, which the Citizen Charter describes as an extension of the state Public Grievance Cell and which receives and processes complaints from the public.

Delhi Arogya Nidhi assistance is free to apply for. No agent, tout or hospital intermediary is authorised to charge a fee for getting a DAN application sanctioned, and any demand for money to "process" the file should be reported to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital and to the DGHS Public Grievance Cell.