A public interest litigation has been filed at the Orissa high court, demanding a court-monitored probe into alleged gross mismanagement and negligence in the treatment of patients in Covid hospitals and denial of dignity to people who died of the disease during cremation.
Highlighting an incident at a Covid hospital in Baripada where patients, including a woman, were seen lying naked on the floor of a washroom and bed, advocate Bibhuti Bhusan Choudhury requested the high court to direct the state government to install CCTV cameras in all Covid hospitals. Choudhury also drew the attention of the high court to the cremation of multiple Covid victims in a single pyre at a cremation ground in Bolangir district.
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“The way Covid hospitals are exploiting the patients is really unfortunate and condemnable,” said the petitioner.
Choudhury urged the high court for a court-monitored probe into these incidents and demanded action against the hospital authorities and other officials responsible. “These incidents should be probed under the supervision of the high court and stringent action should be taken against officials responsible. Moreover, CCTV cameras should be installed in all Covid centres so that the patients’ relatives can see how their near and dear ones are being treated,” he added.
The state chief secretary, health secretary and collectors of Mayurbhanj and Bolangir have been made respondents in the petition.
{{/usCountry}}The state chief secretary, health secretary and collectors of Mayurbhanj and Bolangir have been made respondents in the petition.
{{/usCountry}}Gouranga Mohapatra, state convenor of Jana Swasthya Abhiyan, a health NGO in Odisha, said that during the second wave, there has been gross mismanagement in Covid hospitals of the state. “First of all, there are not enough doctors to treat Covid patients in the state. The Covid-designated private hospitals, though funded by the state government, have not been up to the mark. The government just kept on issuing new guidelines and SOPs without ensuring strict observance. This led to a rise in number of deaths,” said Mohapatra.
Mayurbhanj district collector Vineet Bhardwaj, who, along with other officials and a team of doctors, visited the hospital after the incident, said Covid hospitals in the district are running smoothly and the complaints of the patients and attendants have been redressed. “Such incidents should not be generalised. We are making efforts to install CCTVs in hospitals to monitor the activities and fill the gaps,” said the district collector.