Woman moves Madras High Court alleging husband died of snake bite since State's 24x7 health centre was shut; seeks ₹10 lakh compensation

The Madras High Court sought the response of the Tamil Nadu government on plea by a woman seeking compensation of ₹10 lakh from the State after her husband died from a snake bite because he could not get timely treatment at the State's 24x7 primary health care centre which was shut at the relevant time [K Aruna v Principal Secretary]. .The petitioner K Aruna, a 36-year-old woman from Thiruvallur district in TN told the court that on November 6 last year, at around 3.45 pm, her husband, a small time farmer was working on his farm when he was bit by a snake.He was rushed to the local Primary Health Centre (PHC) but it was shut despite the fact that the State mandates that all PHCs should remain open and be manned 24x7, Aruna told the court. She also produced a picture of a notice pasted in such PHC that stated that anti-snake venom was available at the Centre. However, since the said PHC was shut, her husband was rushed by some of his friends to the next closest PHC that was an hour and a half away. Her husband was administered treatment at the second facility, but it was too late and he died there, the petitioner told the Court.She said that even though the local PHC had available stock of anti-snake venom, her husband could not be administered timely treatment because the state-run Centre was closed at the time of the incident.Therefore, the State government and the concerned authorities were guilty of negligence and they must be held liable for her husband's death, Aruna submitted.She also said that her husband had been the sole bread winner of the family, and she has two minor sons to look after. She, therefore, urged the Court to direct the State to pay her a compensation of ₹10 lakh for such negligence. .On February 10, Justice Anita Sumanth, who was hearing the plea, issued notice to the State government and directed the Additional Government Pleader B Vijay to find out whether the PHC had indeed been shut at the time of the incident as alleged by the petitioner. "Let an enquiry also be made with persons in the vicinity in regard to the allegations in the writ affidavit, particularly relating to whether the Primary Health Care Centre was functioning on that day, as there is a specific allegation that it was locked at 3.45 p.m. This assumes importance in light of the fact that the Primary Health Centre is a 24X7 centre, which is expected to be open and manned throughout the day. The respondents will also confirm if there are camera facilities and suggest other measures that would assist the Court in ascertaining the facts in relation to the functioning of the clinic," the High Court said. It directed the TN government to file its counter affidavit by February 20..[Read Order]