The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Union government on a PIL highlighting the increasing inadequacy of government healthcare programmes in the states of Rajasthan, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, compelling women to travel hundreds of kilometres for getting treatment in private hospitals.
The two-Judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to examine the grievance raised in the petition, collate data regarding the same and submit a final response within eight weeks.
The Writ Petition, filed by eminent medical professional Dr. Narendra Gupta under Article 32 of the Constitution, sought redressal of violation of fundamental rights (Articles 14, 15, 21) and governmental healthcare programmes documented in an RTI and several newspaper reports.
The plea further sought introduction of monitoring, inspection and accountability mechanisms in private healthcare industry, establishing an independent monitor for regulating the function of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) scheme, providing compensation for medical costs & violation of constitutional rights, improving rural healthcare infrastructure, suspension and imposition of criminal liability of the involved doctors.
It contended that several Below Poverty Line (BPL) women were forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to reach private hospitals, in the wake of increasing inadequacy of government healthcare programmes.
When these women complained of abdominal pain and poor menstrual health, they were coerced to opt for Hysterectomy, which aggravated their poor menstrual health and increased the risk of cancer.
The petitioner said that such procedures were performed by private hospitals through coercion, threats and sometimes even by abduction, for profit motive.
The Counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the informed consent was vitiated and nearly 286 unnecessary hysterectomies were performed in Rajasthan alone, with the States of Bihar and Chhattisgarh following suit. The case has been proceeding since March 18, 2013.
(Case title: Dr. Narendra Gupta vs Union of India and Ors)