Chandigarh, Jan 27: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the State of Punjab to explain why essential diagnostic equipment is not standard in every district hospital.
The inquiry was prompted by a public interest litigation regarding Malerkotla Civil Hospital, which revealed significant gaps in mandatory medical facilities and adherence to Indian Public Health Standards.
The court noted that the current distribution of advanced medical technology appears limited, with MRI machines functioning in fewer than a third of the state’s districts.
The Bench described the situation as “more unfortunate” when considering the heavy volume of emergency and referral cases that these regional hospitals are expected to manage daily.
During the hearing, the Bench questioned the strategy of involving private laboratories for basic diagnostic needs.
“The State is duty bound under its sovereign function of providing basic health care facilities, which includes purchase of CT scan and MRI machines,” the court noted.
It further directed the government to justify why these machines “should not be made essential for every district hospital, especially looking to the population each district hospital caters to.”
The proceedings also addressed the absence of specialized care units in newly formed districts. Referring to the Malerkotla facility, the court expressed surprise that a district-level hospital lacked an ICU, which is a critical requirement for any referral-based medical center.
The Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department has been tasked with filing an updated affidavit after the court observed that previous filings were handled by junior staff. “Let the affidavit be filed by the Secretary in regard to all district hospitals as regards availability of ICUs,” the Bench said.
This document is expected to facilitate a thorough judicial review of the state’s efforts to modernize public health facilities and meet sovereign obligations toward citizen care.
