Feb 22
India’s public hospital and medical system is in a mess. Government hospitals are in a mess, catering to a massive number of patients, having doctors who are not exactly enamoured of the low salaries and bad working conditions (in fact, many doctors work to get a good experience and then parlay this experience to pick up much better salaries in the private sector), with funding constraints. One cannot even begin to compare the conditions at Government hospitals vs. private hospitals, although there are many Government hospitals that still retain a good name. However, no matter what are the reasons that have led to this condition, one expects Government hospitals to cater to the poor, the needy and not turn away anyone in need:
Twenty-seven-year-old Hemanti could not be saved but justice might still be done. Serious action has been taken against three doctors held responsible for the shocking case of medical negligence in Swami Dayanand Hospital on February 16. Hemanti, who was refused admission by the doctors on duty on Saturday night, passed away after she was forced to deliver outside the premises of the MCD hospital. Her baby, however, is reportedly in good health, a hospital source said.
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Feb 22
It appears that there is some amount of conflict within the Supreme Court of India, if one goes by recent judgments; there was the recent judgment where the 2 judge bench made scathing remarks about the tendency of the judges to stray into areas that are outside the judicial domain, and into areas where the legislature and executive should be responsible. They took numerous cases, such as the nursery admission case, sealings case, etc; cases where it is the responsibility of the executive to uphold law and do as per law (so, letting illegal constructions stand and creating a law to make them legal is the normal response of the executive and legislature, because there are too many pressure groups that will not allow them to act in another way).
This judgment and the comments were seized upon by politicians of all shades and hues as a vindication of their recent protests that the judiciary was over-stepping its brief; they could not care less that they are failing to respond as per law or not creating law where it is required (as another example, for handling sexual discrimination in the office-place, the current approach is laid down by the Supreme Court in a prior case, and not due to any law passed by the legislature). This judgment and the observations made were quoted in filings made by lawyers working for the Government in different cases. It is another matter that a larger bench struck down these observations as not valid, and said that the court will continue to work as it has before, helping the various junior courts that were affected by the observations of the court. Well, this seems to be happening again, although in a reverse way:
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