Cuttack: Orissa High Court has set a three-week deadline for the state government to file a reply to a PIL seeking intervention "to protect public health care system from clutches of private operators".
The court set the "last" deadline on Thursday after expressing displeasure over the state government's laidback approach in responding to notice issued more than two months ago seeking response to the PIL that had raised serious allegations concerning functioning of district headquarters hospitals.
Social activist and high court lawyer Chittaranjan Mohanty, 68, had filed the petition alleging that sanctioned posts of doctors in district headquarters hospitals and referral medical college hospitals in Cuttack, Burla and Berhampur were not being filled up to serve the interest of private nursing homes and clinics.
The court had first taken up the PIL on April 24 and issued notices to the state government to file a reply within two weeks. But when the petition came up on Thursday, the state counsel sought two more weeks' time to file the reply.
"The division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B.R. Sarangi took serious note of it, but allowed three weeks' time while making it clear that no further time would be granted for filing the reply," the advocate-petitioner said.
In his petition, Mohanty has sought the court's direction to the state government to fill up all sanctioned posts, especially medicine, surgery, paediatric, gynaecology and orthopaedic departments in district headquarters hospitals "forthwith".
He has also sought the court's direction to the state government to equip all district hospitals with life saving medicines and equipment to carry out tests. It has also urged the court to direct the government to crackdown on brokers and other agents who mislead, pressurise and allure poor patients to private hospitals.
According to the petition, ultra modern testing equipment are either not available at government hospitals or have been made defunct so that patients have no option but to go to private clinics, who demand higher price.
"If district government hospitals get specialists, trained staff and modern equipment, then life could be saved. Unfortunately, except for Capital Hospital, all district hospitals are in very poor shape," the petition said.
"There are touts who spread misinformation against government hospitals and are active at government hospitals to divert patients to private nursing homes from where they get hefty commissions," the petitioner said.