HC Directs Basavatarakam Cancer Hospital To Provide Free Treatment to impoverished woman

Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court reaffirmed that private hospitals which received government land at concessional rates could not evade the public obligations like mandatory 25 per cent free in-patient treatment quota to poor and indigent patients.

Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar passed the interim orders directing the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute to immediately provide free treatment to an impoverished woman suffering from breast cancer under the free in-patient quota.

The government had leased 7.35 acres of land to the Nandamuri Basavatarakam Memorial Cancer Foundation, under GO Ms. No. 434 dated May 26, 1989, in Survey No. 346/1 at Shaikpet, Banjara Hills, at concessional rates for establishing a specialised cancer hospital. The grant was subject to mandatory conditions requiring the hospital to reserve 25 per cent of its beds for completely free treatment of poor patients from the below poverty line and to provide 40 percent of outpatient services free of cost.

A petition was filed before the High Court by 48-year-old Bale Bhagyamma of Malyala mandal in Jagtial district, who alleged that the hospital refused to extend free treatment after informing her that her illness was not covered under the Rajiv Aarogyasri and that she would have to bear the cost of treatment.

Designated senior counsel Ganda Mohan Rao, appearing for the petitioner along with advocate Malla Reddy Gadipally submitted that Bhagyamma had been diagnosed with breast cancer and required urgent specialised treatment. According to the petition, the hospital examined her over multiple visits between June 20 and July 15, conducted a PET-CT scan, and diagnosed her with early-stage breast cancer requiring chemotherapy, surgery and further treatment. After informing her that the proposed treatment was outside the scope of the Aarogyasri scheme, the hospital allegedly asked her to bear the expenses herself or seek treatment at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims).

Senior counsel also brought to the notice of the court that the Telangana government issued GO Ms. No. 80 dated July 16, 2022, through which it created a monitoring mechanism to ensure that hospitals receiving such concessions complied with their obligation to provide free treatment to economically weaker patients.

Considering the submissions and holding that the hospital's independent obligation flowing from the conditions attached to the allotment of government land, Justice Shravan Kumar directed the hospital management to admit Bhagyamma immediately under the mandatory 25 per cent free in-patient treatment quota and commence treatment without insisting on any payment.

The court directed the Hyderabad district medical and health officer (DMHO) to supervise the treatment being provided to the petitioner and submit a report by July 23.

TGLPRB Directed To File Affidavit On Schedule For Recruitment Drive Completion In Police Dept.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board (TGLPRB) to file an affidavit indicating the schedule for completing the recently approved recruitment drive to fill 7,437 vacancies in the police and allied departments. The court granted the board four weeks.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M Mohiuddin passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Help the People Charitable Trust chairman who alleged that the government had failed to fill a substantial number of sanctioned posts in the police department despite persistent vacancies across ranks.

During an earlier hearing, the High Court had directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit detailing the number of sanctioned vacancies and the status of the recruitment process initiated to fill them.

The government duly submitted an affidavit. However, petitioner's counsel Barkat Ali Khan raised objections, contending that while the government had announced a recruitment drive for 7,437 posts, the affidavit reflected details of only around 5,000 vacancies. He submitted that the last major police recruitment was conducted in 2022 and argued that, after a gap of four years, the sanctioned recruitment was inadequate in view of the existing vacancies.

Opposing the contention, special government counsel S. Rahul Reddy clarified that approximately 5,000 posts pertained to constable recruitment in the home department, while the remaining 2,437 vacancies related to allied departments, including the fire services and prisons departments and the Special Protection Force.

Petitioner's counsel also pointed out that the government's affidavit did not specify any timeframe for completing the recruitment process. Referring to the previous recruitment cycle, he submitted that it had taken nearly one-and-a-half years to complete, by which time additional vacancies had arisen, defeating the purpose of timely recruitment.