HC seeks status report on ESIC Hospital, says Buxar a test case

PATNA The Patna High Court, which has been hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on Covid management in Bihar, on Friday sought to know if the issues confronting the ESIC Hospital in Bihta, as pointed out by the three-member expert committee constituted by its order, had been addressed and asked the authorities concerned, the Army Service Corp and the state government, to file separate affidavits in that regard

PATNA

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The Patna High Court, which has been hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on Covid management in Bihar, on Friday sought to know if the issues confronting the ESIC Hospital in Bihta, as pointed out by the three-member expert committee constituted by its order, had been addressed and asked the authorities concerned, the Army Service Corp and the state government, to file separate affidavits in that regard.

“We must prepare for the third wave and the ESIC Hospital, which has 500 beds and is closer to Patna, could address the problems in the longer run,” said the bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sanjay Kumar.

The three-member committee had earlier raised issues related to oxygen shortage, manpower requirement, security etc. at the hospital. The bench wanted the state government’s response on that. “We are dealing with PMCH and ESIC hospitals separately. There still seems to be issues with ESIC hospital,” the court said.

Additional solicitor general KN Singh said that the ESIC hospital was managed by the Army on one floor and ESIC on the other. “The Army authorities have communicated that all beds are not occupied. Same is the condition with the portion managed by the ESIC. Army authorities had earlier pointed out certain deficiencies, which the state acted upon,” he said.

Death registration

Former additional solicitor general SD Sanjay drew the attention of the bench on the issue of delay in issue of death certificates, which was causing problems to the kin of victims in availing insurance claims and other compensations. “Many of the victims were breadwinners for their families and without death certificate, they cannot do anything,” he said.

The bench said that the issue was already under consideration and its order on Buxar death registration issue was a test case. “If the officials of the panchayati raj institutions don’t comply with the court’s order within a week and fail to update death registrations, we will stop their salary and even seize their powers,” it said.

On Monday, the court had expressed its displeasure over apparent inconsistency in figures of death in Buxar, where 81 bodies were found floating in the Ganga river and later cremated, as provided in the affidavits filed by the Patna division commissioner and the chief secretary. The court had sought the figures of the entire district to be furnished since March 1. The court said this would apply to all the districts of the state. It also pointed out that in the digital era, the websites were also not updated to get the correct figures of death.

Biowaste disposal

With the availability of home testing kits likely from next week through the open market, the issue of biowaste disposal was again raised before the bench. The bench said it was time to seek information from the four private agencies, which have been assigned the job of collecting biowaste.

The court had on Thursday observed that the matter of biowaste disposal in Patna town was an issue not confined to private and government hospitals only, but also labs and homes, where people were living in isolation, and sought details of the quantum of biowaste generation and the way they were being treated from the Patna Municipal Corporation.