Ahmedabad: After examining the applications and affidavits of the municipal corporation, central and state governments and senior advocates, the Gujarat High Court told the state government to ensure that the Ahmedabad municipal corporation does not ignore the directives for Covid management. Such attitude of the Ahmedabad municipal corporation cannot be tolerated, the court said. The court has fixed May 11 for the next hearing.
What did the advocates represent?
Senior advocate Percy Kavina
Senior advocate Percy Kavina said there is no ventilator in Sayla. The Dhanwantari van, which is well equipped, remains parked under the shade of PHC. Leave aside villages, even the 900-bed DRDO hospital is not being utilized fully because there is a paucity of resources and other facilities. He said on April 23, 1,89,000 tests were conducted which have now come down to 1,37,000.
Shalin Mehta, Advocate
Shalin Mehta said that hospital managements say that even though the patients need more Oxygen, they are given less Oxygen due to low supplies. He asked the court to stop the hospitals from following such practice. If the hospital needs more Oxygen, the management should demand from the government. Another shrewd practice of hospital management also came to light. At the time of admission, the hospital takes a written undertaking from the patients that they will not demand Oxygen.
Advocate Anand Yagnik
Anand Yagnik drew the court’s attention to the problems of children and women during the pandemic and wanted the facility of smartphone and internet for the students of government and semi-government schools at the beginning of the next academic term. He also wanted facilities for children in Anganwadi, juvenile homes and for expectant mothers. He wanted an additional grant of Rs 1.5 lakh be given to MLAs in addition to the Rs 25 lakh they get for MLAD fund so that they can have additional hospital beds, ambulance and medical care facilities in their constituencies.
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108 service has failed: High Court
The court had last week directed that hospitals must attend to patients irrespective of whether they arrive in private vehicles or '108' ambulances. The AMC on Tuesday said its order has been withdrawn, but also maintained that the policy was neither "mischievous" nor "overriding the state."
Advocate General Kamal Trivedi told the court that this `only 108 ambulances' policy was sound till April 15, but not thereafter when the number of cases started rising fast.
Information on testing given was due to our misunderstanding: state government
Gujarat High Court Advocate Association secretary Hardik Brahmabhatt had told media persons that though there has been an increase in the number of laboratories, the number of RT-PCR tests had been reduced from what the government had earlier stated. After the Gujarat High Court castigated the government on this, the state government said the information given in the old affidavit was because of their misunderstanding or because of discrepancy in numbers and asserted that its mistake was not deliberate.
The court said the state government and the Ahmedabad municipal corporation should follow one uniform policy with regard to the 108 ambulance service and that the AMC cannot be allowed to follow its own policy.
The High Court rescinded the AMC’s circular which had said it is not mandatory for the citizens of Ahmedabad to undergo RT-PCR test. It is compulsory for anyone returning to Gujarat after remaining outside for 72 hours to undergo RT-PCR test. The court ordered to start RT-PCR tests in all the 26 universities of the state. "This is the time for action, not for request."
While the production of Remdesivir injection has been ramped up from the previous 3.8 million to 10.03 million units, why is it that Gujarat has been allocated less which was 16,500 on a daily basis earlier but now only 16,100? The court wanted an explanation from the state government.
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Court will hear the matter of fire in Bharuch’s Patel Welfare hospital on May 11
The High Court has received applications with regard to the fire in Bharuch’s Patel Welfare hospital in which 18 persons were killed. The court has fixed May 11 for the hearing in this matter. The court expressed its sorrow during Tuesday’s hearing on the death of 18 innocent persons. It told the state government and municipal corporation to file their replies by May 10 and fixed the next hearing for May 11.
