Delhi High Court notice to Centre, State on plea by BJP MLA for appointment of doctors in Govt Hospitals

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central and Delhi governments on a petition demanding immediate appointment of adequate number of doctors and paramedical staff in all the government hospitals as well as Mohalla clinics in Delhi (Dr Nand Kishore Garg v GNCTD and Ors)..The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg through Advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi also sought strengthening of the recruitment process of doctors by “replacing the existing bureaucratic and time-consuming process so that the vacancies of doctors and paramedical staff may be filled up immediately after the post gets vacant”..The Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh heard the matter and listed the case for further hearing on January 12. Notices were also issued to the AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital..Though the PIL also prayed for constitution of a commission of retired Judge of the High Court along with some senior doctors to inquire into the deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic in government hospitals, the court refused to issue notice on this aspect.The petition argued that the government hospitals in Delhi do not have adequate number of doctors or paramedical staff to cater to the requirements of the city and as a result even the government doctors are referring patients to private hospitals.“Inadequate infrastructure in the government hospitals of Delhi is becoming ominous in view of various infectious diseases like corona virus and other communicable life-threatening diseases. The common citizens of Delhi are being denied admission to the government hospitals on account of inadequate infrastructure. Even the doctors of the government hospitals are referring the patients to the private hospitals for prompt treatment, thus promoting the private hospitals on account of poor infrastructure of the government hospitals,” the petition said..Garg in his plea also cited the RTI response to reveal that nearly 800 posts of doctors are vacant at the country’s premier hospital - AIIMS. It was also revealed that Safdarjung Hospital has a shortage of 433 doctors while 100 doctors are required at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.“It is evident that the government hospitals are completely ill equipped to tackle the recent epidemic of Coronavirus which is threatening to engulf the whole population, even the protective mask and sanitizers are being black marketed across the city of Delhi and are being made available at prohibiting and exorbitant prices,” the petition argued.