Delay in making Gaestroenterology Institute Operational: HC summons Medical Education Secretary

While considering a contempt plea pointing out the failure on the State Government's part to make the Institute functional, a division bench comprising of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awathi and Justice Sachin Shankar Mahadum summoned the Secretary of Medical Education asking him to explain the reason for this delay, adds The Hindu.

TOI adds that calling the delay "deliberate" the bench was quoted observing, "The conduct of the authorities concerned is highly deprecated."

The HC bench was considering the contempt plea filed by a Bengaluru advocate, who has complained that the authorities are delaying the process of making the new facility functional. He had also filed a PIL and sought directions to provide a full-scale gastroenterolGastroenterologyGastroenterologyogy and organ transplantation facility,

During the course of the hearing, the HC bench was noted observing orally that the authorities along with the private hospitals together were delaying the process to open the institute, which would be beneficial for the poor people.

However, the counsel appearing for the State clarified before the bench that the Institute, which is set to be made functional soon, was converted into a COVID-19 treatment center.

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As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the bench had also asked the director of the Institute to be present before the Court personally. The director, Nagesh N.S., informed the court that the facility will take another two months to become functional since according to the medical protocol the facility needs to go through the five-level sanitization process before being operational.

Following this, the bench asked why the process of sanitization was not undertaken when the facility had opened for outpatients in July this year.

"We fail to appreciate as to why the institute was not sanitised till date and why they are waiting for the court to allow them time to sanitise the institute. The conduct of the authorities concerned is highly deprecated," the bench was quoted observing by TOI.