Medicos not willing to accept postings in remote areas; can’t expect State to set up medical colleges there: Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court recently observed that it would be too much to expect the State or private entities to set up medical colleges in far-flung areas when qualified medical doctors are not willing to be posted there. [Surbhi Shah v. National Medical Commission].The Court made the observation while rejecting a public interest litigation (PIL) related to the establishment of new medical colleges in the State..The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal said it was not inclined to accept the argument against the grant of Essentiality Certificate by the State for setting up of private medical colleges only in the plain districts of the State. It pointed out,“Our experience shows that qualified medical Doctors are not even willing to accept appointment in the remote areas of the State. That being the position, it would be too much to expect - either from the State, or the private entities, to set up Medical Colleges in the far flung areas.”The Court also took note of the acute shortage of medical personnel in the State and further observed that one “cannot grudge” the fact that the Essentiality Certificate is being granted in respect of the districts in plain areas such as Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital..The PIL had prayed for issuance of directions to the State to follow the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and the Regulations under it for the issue of requisite certificates and grant of permission for establishment of new medical colleges in the State. It also sought cancellation of all Essentiality Certificates granted illegally by wrongful change of land use.The counsel for the petitioner argued that State medical colleges have been set up in only five of the thirteen districts in the State. Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Almora and Pauri Garhwal are the districts where medical colleges have been set up. The Court was told that three private medical colleges were allowed to be set up in Dehradun.It was argued that under the Regulations framed by the National Medical Commission, the Essentiality Certificate for setting up of medical colleges should be granted while keeping in mind that they should not be in close proximity to each other..The Court said that it is not necessary to to set up a medical college in order to ensure that a district provides good medical facilities. Therefore, it rejected the prayers in the PIL."The reason for the same is that the State has a very different topography/ geography, as compared to other States, having large plain areas. Due to the hilly terrain of the State, there is uneven distribution of the population in the State. The plain areas account for very vast majority of the population, and the hilly areas are very sparsely populated. There is acute shortage of medical personnel in the State. Therefore, one cannot grudge the fact that Essentiality Certificate is being granted in respect of the districts having plain areas, such as the districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital etc," the order stated..However, since the petitioner’s counsel said he would like to press this writ petition for provision of better medical facilities in all districts of the State of Uttarakhand, the Bench said,“Limited to that extent, we permit the petitioner to amend the present Writ Petition to incorporate those reliefs.”While ordering that the amendment may be carried out within four weeks, the Court listed the matter for hearing on November 11..Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta and Advocate Rajendra Arya represented the petitioner.Deputy Advocate General KN Joshi appeared for the State..[Read Order]