Lawyers' body find lack of basic medical facilities in districts including Narmada, the seat of tallest statue

The laboratory for RT-PCR test is not functioning in the district and it takes about three days to get test results from neighbouring Vadodara

Picture this. Narmada district, the seat of Sardar Vallabhaai Patel's statue known as "Statue of Unity", the world's tallest, has been able to increase from 100 to 900 hundred beds for treating Covid-19 patients but the number of doctors has remained the same.

The laboratory for RT-PCR test is not functioning in the district and it takes about three days to get test results as they are being done at neighbouring Vadodara district. There is no CT-scan machine and at private facilities, Rs 4,000 is being charged for the same. While this may look reasonable in Ahmedabad but in districts like Narmada, which is economically backward and dominated by tribals, this price of Rs 4,000 is too much for the CT scan.

The district recorded 143 new cases, taking the total active cases to 1,017. A day before, it had reported 103 cases and total cases were 1,374. The number of tests conducted on Tuesday was not available.

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Although there are ventilators, there is none to look after as there are no technicians to operate them. In public hospitals, there is no equipment for administering oxygen to critical patients. And, for any medical emergency, reliance is on government hospitals at Vadodara which is 68 km away.

The aforementioned are findings of Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHAA) which is assisting the court, hearing suo moto public interest litigation on medical infrastructure and ground reality across the state in view of rising coronavirus cases. The findings were submitted by the association through senior advocate Percy Kavina in court Tuesday.

The submission of the lawyers' body is based on interaction with members of district bar associations such as Narmada, Surendranagar, Godhra, Panchamahals, Tapi, Banaskantha, Chhota Udepur, Ahmedabad among others. The report suggests a lack of basic facilities such as Covid-19 testing kits, oxygen beds, ICU beds, doctors, among others. During the hearing in the court on Tuesday, Kavina pointed out that his report is based on anecdotal incidents.

It was found out that in Panchmahals district, patients who want to go to Vadodara or Ahmedabad for treatment have to take permission from a nodal officer appointed specially by the government for this purpose.

"Upon inquiry, it was further revealed that such practice is prevalent since a week. This aspect of the permission was strongly resented by the respondent." The report also stated that "it was apprehended that daily about 15 to 20 deaths due to Covid-19 should be happening but there is no official count for this." It adds further that the collector was actively working and admitted that "while laboratory for RT-PCR test is not fully functional but it should start in a couple of days and training for this purpose is going on."

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Similarly, in district Chhota Udepur, the association has reported that mass gathering during weddings was as usual while the cost of essential items has increased significantly. This is one of the most economically backward districts of the state which has "no medical facilities available viz. availability of Oxygen, Medical Personnel for operating Ventilators, etc." In Vyara, Tapi district in south Gujarat, an RT-PCR centre was inaugurated but it is yet to become functional. The association has also found lack of medical oxygen, beds and other facilities in districts such as Banaskantha, Surendranagar.

During the hearing, the state government tried to play down the submissions of the association but the court directed to file a detailed affidavit with regard to these findings by the next hearing on May 11. Meanwhile, the state government's affidavit filed on Monday said that the government has started a campaign, titled, "Maru Gam. Gorona Mukt" for creating awareness at the village level and involving the village community including political and religious leaders.

With regards to the condition of tribal districts, the state government's affidavit stated that all 14 such districts have RT-PCR testing facilities through RT-PCR, TRUENAT or CBNAAT machines. RT-PCR testing through RT-PCR machines was available in ten districts. The machines in the other four districts-Mahisagar, Dang, Aravalli and Chhota Udepur-will be functional shortly.