Plea for ramps in hospitals:HC directs appearance of officials

Taking a serious view of non-filing of counter affidavits on a plea for providing ramps in high- rise hospitals here, the Madras High Court today directed three senior officials, including the Tamil Nadu Health Secretary and the Secretary of Medical Council of India, to be present in the court on March 3.
The court also imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 each on the two and the Member-Secretary of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and directed them to file the counter-affidavits within three weeks.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, hearing a PIL, said urgency needs to be shown in the matter as safety of patients in hospitals in case of evacuation becomes necessary.

"Despite repeated opportunities both on 28/09/2015 and on 5/11/2015, counter affidavits have not been filed except by the Director, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, Chennai...
"We are left with no option but to call for the personal presence of the Health Secretary, the Member Secretary CMDA and the Secretary Medical Council of India in the court on the next date of hearing (March 7) with records," the bench said.
The PIL, filed by a social activist Jawaharlal Shanmugam, submitted that there were several multi-specialty hospitals, both government and private, functioning in high-rise buildings and most of them lacked ramp facility.

In case of emergencies due to natural calamities or man-made disasters such as bomb explosions or threats, the patients could not be evacuated from such buildings, he said.