The Delhi High Court ordered the city government to verify that every piece of medical equipment in its in govt hospitals is operational. Amicus curiae and advocate Ashok Agarwal said there were no ICU beds in nine Delhi government hospitals and medical equipment were non-functional.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court ordered the city government to verify that every piece of medical equipment in its in govt hospitals is operational and to provide an explanation for the “apparent” decline in hospital spending. The court also observed that the Delhi government’s affidavit said that the “budget expenditure” for its hospitals decreased from approximately Rs 3,500 crore in 2022–2023 to approximately Rs 2,800 crore in 2023–2024.
On Monday, the Delhi High Court ordered the city government to verify that every piece of medical equipment in its in govt hospitals is operational and to provide an explanation for the “apparent” decline in hospital spending. The court also observed that the Delhi government’s affidavit said that the “budget expenditure” for its in govt hospitals decreased from approximately Rs 3,500 crore in 2022–2023 to approximately Rs 2,800 crore in 2023–2024.
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The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city government to ensure that all medical equipment in its in govt hospitals are functional and explain the “apparent” drop in its expenditure on hospitals. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, who was hearing a PIL initiated by high court on its own in 2017 concerning the issue of non-availability of ICU beds and ventilator facility in government hospitals here, asked the health secretary of Delhi government to join the proceedings on Wednesday.
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The court also noted that as per an affidavit filed by the Delhi government, the “budget expenditure” in respect of its hospitals went down from around Rs 3,500 crore in 2022-2023 to around Rs 2,800 crore in 2023-2024.
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Justice Manmohan remarked that the report was “incomplete” as it did not deal with the estimated “demand” for healthcare services and there was a “huge shortfall” in the latest budget numbers.
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“This affidavit is incomplete. You must tell the demand (to determine whether there is shortfall in supply). It is apparent that spending in hospitals has gone down…Rs 700 crore shortfall is a huge shortfall. Rs 700 crore shortfall on hospitals will take its toll,” remarked the court.
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The court asked the government counsel to take instructions on “why spending on hospitals has gone down and whether any money is diverted to some other planned event of yours”.
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The court also asserted that any unspent money from the budget should not “go waste” with the closing of the financial year and must be spent on the concerns raised in the proceedings.
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The court was informed that the death was due to denial of treatment by three Delhi government hospitals and one Central government hospital here on various pretexts including non-availability of ICU/ ventilator bed or CT scan.
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Amicus curiae and advocate Ashok Agarwal said there were no ICU beds in nine Delhi government hospitals and medical equipment were non-functional.
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The court orally said it would direct a joint enquiry into the matter by the officials of both the Centre and and Delhi government.
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In a response filed in the matter, the Centre said it has no objection in principle to the establishment of a central portal to provide real-time information on the availability of beds and that there were several ICU beds in its hospitals.
Source: Economic Times
