GUWAHATI: The Assam cabinet on Thursday decided to crack the whip against private hospitals, making it mandatory for them to release the bodies of patients within two hours post-death certification, regardless of bill payment status.
After a meeting of the cabinet, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media that the government often receives complaints regarding various institutions witholding dead bodies as “mortgage” for three-four days to pressure relatives into clearing hospital bills.
Calling such situations 'against human dignity', he said, “You cannot keep a dead body as hostage. The cabinet has decided that if any nursing home tries to do that, their licence will be suspended for three to six months and they will be fined Rs 5 lakh.”
He added that in the event of repeat offences, they would be blacklisted with cancellation of their licence for eternity.
A government statement issued later said hospitals must hand over dead bodies within two hours post-death certification, irrespective of pending payment. Delay beyond this may attract penal action, it warned.
The government said “incidents” must be reported to the police and district health authority within four hours.
“A 24x7 toll-free helpline will allow families to report coercion…Upon complaint, the designated authority must visit the site, release the dead body if wrongfully held and initiate legal proceedings,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the cabinet approved the proposal for the implementation of the “Gaja Mitra Scheme” in eight most human-elephant conflict-prone districts such as Goalpara, Udalguri, Nagaon, Baksa, Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat and Biswanath.
The cabinet proposed to form a community-based voluntary monitoring and rapid response team in the affected villages. Each team would consist of eight members from the local community in 80 locations for a period of six months during which human-elephant conflict is at peak and coincides with the paddy cultivation season.
“The Gaja Mitra Scheme will help establish a proactive, trained and community-based support system that can complement the efforts of the Forest Department in mitigating human-elephant conflict by facilitating co-existence, protecting lives and livelihoods, and enabling safe passage for elephants through traditional routes,” the statement further stated.