Allahabad HC raps UP govt for neglecting medical care outside Lucknow, seeks urgent upgrade

Prayagraj: Hearing a PIL related to medical facilities in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court observed on Friday that though the state government has developed medical infrastructure in the capital, those living in other cities are being denied such help.

"It seems that the entire focus of the state government is in developing medical infrastructure at the state capital and the people living in other cities of Uttar Pradesh are being denied medical help. They have to run either to Lucknow or Delhi for medical treatment. It is the taxpayers' money which should be evenly spent across the state and not a particular city should be developed as a medical hub, neglecting other cities of the state," the court observed.

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal directed the government to take immediate action against deteriorating medical facilities in the state and said before things go out of hand, the existing infrastructure needs to be improved and strengthened.

As the principal secretary (medical education and health) was not present in the court, the judge directed him to appear before the bench on July 1.

The judge also directed him to apprise the court of the efforts undertaken by the government to improve the overall condition of the 42 medical colleges in the state and the hospitals attached therein.

Besides, the court directed the principal secretary to visit all the medical colleges by the next date fixed to gather first-hand knowledge of the requirements of the hospitals.

Directing to put up the case as fresh on July 1, the judge asked Prayagraj's district magistrate, police commissioner as well as the municipal commissioner, Nagar Nigam, Prayagraj, superintendent in-charge and deputy SIC, Swaroop Rani Nehru (SRN) Hospital, Prayagraj, and chief medical officer (CMO), Prayagraj, to remain present before the court on the next date.

The court also directed the principal secretary to file an affidavit disclosing the entire budgetary allocation to all medical colleges of the state, including the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), King George's Medical College (a deemed university) and Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow.

The court further directed the principal secretary to place before the state government for consideration a proposal to upgrade the medical facility at the SRN Hospital, which is associated with the Motilal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj, from 1,250 beds to at least 3,000 beds, keeping in view the next Kumbh to be held in 2031.

According to government estimates, 66.3 crore people visited the city of Prayagraj during this year's Mahakumbh.

"The officer concerned shall also apprise the government about the poor medical facilities available in the city of Prayagraj compared to the medical facilities available at Lucknow and Gorakhpur. Prayagraj being an important religious place, where tourists are coming from all around the world and is also having a large local population, is being neglected for the last several years with little or no medical facility," the court said.

The court also directed the principal secretary to inform it about the strengthening of the primary health centres across Uttar Pradesh as these facilities are practically in a non-working condition, which is putting great pressure on the hospitals attached to the medical colleges.

The court also directed the principal secretary to place the matter before the state government for consideration of setting up, if necessary, an Institute like the SGPGI in the Prayagraj region to cater to the needs of the neighbouring districts, as patients from the medical colleges are being referred to the SGPGI, Lucknow or to Delhi.

The court was apprised that though there are doctors, due to a lack of proper infrastructure and the non-availability of medicines, patients cannot be treated in these medical colleges.