The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra Government to ensure that there is no vacant post of doctors and paramedics in public hospitals. A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor has further directed the state to appoint a CEO under the Maharashtra Medical Good Procurement Act within two weeks.
 
The court was hearing a suo motu PIL wherein two government hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar districts of Maharashtra reported over 50 deaths within a span of two days.
 
Expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s reply that most of these patients were brought to these hospitals in extremely critical condition, the court sought to know how the government planned to strengthen public healthcare.
 
Appearing for the state government, Advocate General Birendra Saraf claimed that there was no gross negligence on part of the hospitals, adding that all the required medicines and equipment were available and administered as per protocol. Stating that the deaths were unfortunate, Mr. Saraf said the doctors and medical staff at the hospitals were burdened.
 
Emphasizing that the state cannot escape responsibility, the court also ruled the decline in budgetary allocation for public healthcare from 4.78 percent in 2020-21 to 4.01 percent in the current fiscal.
 
The bench has directed the Principal Secretaries of the Public Health Department and the Medical Education and Drugs Department to file affidavits furnishing details of sanctioned posts in all government hospitals and the vacancies against such posts. Additionally, the court has asked for affidavits disclosing the demands for medicines, medical goods and equipment made by the hospitals in Nanded and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the last year and supplies made against such demands. The bench has said that the affidavits must be filed by 30th October when the matter will be next heard.