J&K High Court Takes Suo Moto Cognisance of Public Healthcare Collapse
Jehangir Ali
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Srinagar: Terming the matter as "highly sensitive," the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday (9 December) took suo moto cognisance of the alleged mismanagement of the Union territory's public healthcare system.
The high court's intervention came after a media report published in a Jammu-based daily on Tuesday said cardiac health services at the Government Super Speciality Hospital (GSSH) in Jammu had collapsed due to a complete lack of essential equipment.
The tertiary-care hospital, located in the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, caters to thousands of patients daily who are referred there for better facilities not available at subdistrict and district hospitals.
Also read: Ground Report: Healthcare Crisis in J&K Grows; Ayushman Bharat Suspended
According to media reports, the authorised supplier of emergency cardiac devices, including stents, pacemakers, balloons and cath-lab consumables, has suspended supplies to the hospital due to the non-payment of Rs 30 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
The PMJAY is a national public health insurance scheme funded by the Union government to provide free health coverage for low-income individuals. The scheme has been criticised by patients in Jammu and Kashmir for poor planning and limited coverage.
Taking cognisance of the matter, a division bench of the high court, led by Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir, Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, observed that due to the non-payment of bills, the hospital’s cath-lab operations have been "completely paralysed".
"In normal parlance, the GSSH performs around 25 cardiac procedures daily, but owing to the current impasse not a single heart-related intervention could be carried out throughout the day, placing vulnerable cardiac patients at serious risk," the court said.
Also read: Lack of Funds, Delayed Payments Prompt Private Hospitals to Turn away PMJAY Beneficiaries
Observing that the matter was "highly sensitive," the high court said it was "impelled to take suo moto cognisance of the prevailing conditions" in the overall healthcare system of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Accordingly, the Registrar (Judicial) of this Court is requested to register and number a petition as 'Court on its own motion vs. Nemo' in public interest and put up the same before this Bench during the course of the day," the court added.
Nemo, in legal parlance, means no one. This essentially means that the court has taken up the matter on its own and there is no specific respondent yet.
A district hospital in Kishtwar, Kashmir. Photo: PTI.
The division bench’s direction came in connection with four Public Interest Litigations related to Jammu and Kashmir's healthcare system, pending in the high court for more than a decade.
The petitions have urged the court to direct the government to provide adequate medical facilities and infrastructure in the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, as well as in other urban areas of the Union Territory.
The petitions have also called on the government to regulate and monitor private nursing homes and other medical institutions according to the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Health and the Medical Council of India.
Also read: Kashmiri Journalists Say Health Department ‘Hushing Up’ Enquiry Report into Mudasir Ali’s Death
Senior advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmad, appointed as amicus curiae in the case, informed the court that numerous orders have been passed over the years and 15 reports submitted by the government "but with no tangible results".
The case has been set for the next hearing on December 29.
The high court's intervention comes when allegations of medical negligence in government hospitals are on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, the government ordered an inquiry after the family of a 23-year-old woman alleged that she died due to medical negligence following delivery at the Maternity and Child Care Hospital in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.
On November 14, the Union Territory government ordered a probe after the parents of a child alleged that he passed away due to negligence by doctors and authorities at the valley's premier Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar.
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