NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital to extend free treatment to patients belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) with immediate effect from March 1.
The direction was issued by a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad while dealing with a plea moved by Social Jurist, a Civil Rights Group, through Advocate Ashok Agarwal over the alleged failure of the hospital to provide free treatment to any EWS patient in the last several years despite the court orders.
Aggarwal had moved the high court and contended that the hospital was allotted land by the DDA on concessional rates on the condition that it would provide free treatment to poor patients to the extent of 10 per cent in the IPD and 25 per cent in the OPD, but was not doing so.
The court took the hospital’s voluntary stand on record and directed it to provide treatment to the poor as undertaken by it. In its submission, the hospital said it would extend 10% in the inpatient department and 25% in the outpatient department to poor patients.
As per the petitioner, the hospital is in existence for more than two decades and is functioning with 302 beds capacity, however, it has been violating the condition of the land allotment with regard to providing free treatment to EWS patients.
“The respondent hospital has made unwarranted profits by not providing free treatment to EWS patients...therefore, it is liable to make good to society by paying such an amount of unwarranted profit to DDA in terms of an earlier decision of the High Court,” the plea stated.
Agarwal said, “EWS cancer patients will get 31 free beds. We are fighting the case for the last 21 years. Over the last 30 years, the hospital, which is running on government land where they got concession rates, never given any treatment for the poor patients.”
‘Hospital has given land to provide free of cost treatment’
Advocate Ashok Agarwal who has approached the High Court contended that the hospital was allotted land by the DDA on concessional rates on the condition that it would provide free treatment to poor patients to the extent of 10 per cent in the IPD and 25 per cent in the OPD, but was not doing so.