Gurugram: DLSA urges state to act against three hospitals for not treating poor for free - Hindustan Times
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Gurugram: DLSA urges state to act against three hospitals for not treating poor for free

Hindustan Times | By, Gurugram
Apr 10, 2018 11:39 PM IST

The DLSA has urged the Haryana legal services authority to address the matter appropriately at the state level or escalate it to the Central government. The DLSA has also suggested the HLSA file a writ in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The district legal services authority (DLSA) wrote to its state counterpart on Tuesday to look into the matter of three city hospitals not complying with the condition of providing free medical services to poor patients, as mentioned in a state policy under which they were granted free land.

The three hospitals were given free land by the state government under a policy formulated in August 2008.(iStockphoto)
The three hospitals were given free land by the state government under a policy formulated in August 2008.(iStockphoto)

“The Haryana government allotted land inside the city to corporate entities to set up hospitals. The land was allotted free of cost to them in lieu of the specific understanding that a certain percentage of poor patients would be given free consultation in the OPDs. Also, a certain percentage of beds would be kept for the free treatment of poor patients,” chief judicial magistrate and DLSA secretary Narender Singh stated in his letter to the Haryana legal services authority (HLSA).

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Naming the three hospitals in his letter, Singh highlighted that the policy envisages the hospitals maintain a separate register for EWS patients who have been provided free treatment and that this register be made available to the administrator and estate officer of the Haryana urban development authority (Huda) and the president of the Red Cross Society. However, this system is not being followed, Singh wrote.

These hospitals were to submit a quarterly report to the Huda estate officer, who would send a copy of it to the Huda administrator for verification.

“In case of violation of the policy’s terms and condition, the Huda estate officer can initiate resumption of the plot (on which the hospital is built) on the recommendations of the monitoring committee,” Singh said, adding that over the years it was seen that this policy is not being implemented.

Singh said he wrote this letter to the HLSA after he got no response to two letters to the Huda administrator, dated February 7 and 23, requesting information on compliance of said policy by hospitals.

“We waited for 15 days after writing the first letter. We wrote another letter on February 23, but we have not received a reply until now (April 10),” Singh said.

The DLSA has urged the HLSA to address the matter appropriately at the state level or escalate it to the Central government. The DLSA has also suggested the HLSA file a writ in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

“It was not in my knowledge as I have just joined. Will enquire and see to it that poor patients get their due,” said Huda administrator Chander Shekhar Khare.

What the policy states

  • Hospitals that receive free land from government to establish facility must treat 20% of total outdoor patients free on a first come, first serve basis
  • Hospital administration must reserve 10% beds for treatment of indoor EWS in-patients
  • Super-specialty hospitals shall charge subsidised rates, i.e. 30% of normal charges, for 20% of the functional beds.
  • Only a person with a BPL card can qualify as an EWS beneficiary
  • Class-4 govt employees can seek cheaper treatments
  • Any person with income not exceeding 5,000 per month
  • All beneficiaries must have a Haryana domicile certificate.
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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Leena Dhankhar has worked with Hindustan Times for five years. She has covered crime, traffic and excise. She now reports on civic issues and grievances of residents.

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