Delhi HC asks LG to decide on approving more staff for COVID facility at Indira Gandhi Hospital

New Delhi: In order to ensure that functioning of Indira Gandhi Hospital is not hampered in any manner, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to take decision on the approval of additional staff for the ongoing project of establishing Covid-19 bed facility at the hospital.

The order was passed by a two judge bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh who noted that the Delhi Government should make arrangements to begin the functioning of super speciality facilities in the hospital by the month of March next year, instead of July.

The bench said, "We hope and expect that the L-G will look into the same to take a decision at the earliest considering the requirement of the hospital and so that its functioning is not hampered."

The court also observed that the state was making efforts to stick to the timelines as mentioned before the court during the course of previous hearings related to the completion of the project tasks.

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The court was examining a plea by the Dwarka Court Bar Association filed through advocate VP Singh, who had sought the intervention of the court to begin the proceedings in Indira Gandhi Hospital in Dwarka whose construction is almost completed after a period of eight years, reports Hindustan Times.

The senior advocate appearing for Delhi Government, Rahul Mehra mentioned that the work for general specialities in the hospital would be completed by December 31 and 1204 staff posts of staff have been created which are to be filled. However, the advocate added that staff would be employed via the mode of contractual engagement, PSUs etc at the moment since filling the newly created posts through UPSC and DSSSB mode would take some time.

He highlighted that out of the newly created 3,059 posts at the new hospital, the approval for 1,204 posts of staff have been given by the Lieutenant Governor, while a new proposal seeking approval for 1,855 more posts have been submitted to the LG, which is pending.

He submitted the latest status report which detailed the timelines and completion of the required work in the hospital, reports Live Law. He stated that 1241 beds have been established in the wards, for which the civil electrical work has also been completed. He added that oxygen pipes have also been installed in the beds, the deadline for which was October end.

Further, he submitted that the procurement process of essential furniture and other materials for regular services in the hospital have begun which is set to be completed by the end of December this year.

He informed the court that super speciality facilities at the hospital would begin from July, 2022 and phase 2 of the Hospital, presently in a planning stage, would begin functioning after phase 1 gets completed.

However the advocate VP Singh appearing for the petitioner asked the time period for beginning the super speciality facilities to be reduced to first quarter of next year reasoning that no other super speciality hospital was present in Dwarka. Justice Sanghi however, responded,

"Let us concentrate on the phase 1 for the time being. Lets go step by step. There is no point to squeeze when even phase 1 is not complete."

Earlier, the court had directed the delhi government to submit a status report on the progress made in completing the construction of Covid bed facilities at the hospital. The Delhi government was also asked to file a 'better affidavit' mentioning the proper timeline within which the phase 1 and phase 2 super speciality facilities would be set established in the hospital.

The court observed the necessity of having super speciality facilities even for a person undergoing Covid treatment. The court had asked the government to submit a timeline for beginning the functioning of the facility, which the government would bind itself to and non-adherence to which would give result in consequences.

The high court had earlier passed orders directing the principal secretary (Home) of the Delhi government to check the progress in the construction work of Covid dedicated Indira Gandhi Hospital every week. The secretary was asked to take the required disciplinary action against those found guilty of lapses or negligence during the inspections.

The case would be next heard on February 1, 2022.

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