The High Court on Thursday issued notice to Jammu and Kashmir Government on a Public Interest Litigation seeking directions for formulating a comprehensive policy for prevention, control and treatment of coronavirus.
While a division bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal andJustice Rajesh Bindal issued notice to J&K government through its ChiefSecretary, it asked senior additional advocate general H A Siddiqui, appearingon behalf of the government at Jammu wing to share the action-taken report hehas filed with the counsel of the petitioner.
The direction followed after Sidiqi informed the court thathe has filed action-taken report on behalf of the Health and Medical EducationDepartment. Assistant Solicitor General of India Vishal Sharma told the benchthat he will file action-taken report on behalf of Union Territory of Ladakhbefore next date of hearing.
While the proceeding of the case was held through videoconference, additional advocate general Shah Aamir appeared on behalf of Healthand Medical Education department at Srinagar wing of the High Court. The courtwill now the petition on March 17.
Azra Ismail of Rawalpora Srinagar has filed the PIL throughadvocates Faisal Qadri and Peerzadah Salih.
Besides seeking direction for taking effective preventivemeasures by the government to combat the epidemic of coronavirus, the PIL seeksto provide facilities for conduct of all pathological tests and treatment freeof cost.
The PIL seeks direction for setting up special screeningsystem for the detection of suspected or infected persons at airports, bus andrailway terminals across the territory besides establishing special FeverHospitals and isolated treatment centres managed by specially trained medicaland para-medical staff.
According to the petition, the epidemic is reported to haveextended its impact to J&K. “Apart from such prognosis the influx oftourists and repatriation of local residents from China and other affectedregions is likely to keep the situation vulnerable, further compounded by theill-preparedness of the authorities and the recessive medical facilities,”reads the PIL.
While the petition underlines that the local government hasyet to come up with any concrete policy to combat the impeding outbreak of thedisease, it says the hygienic condition of hospitals and primary health carecentres continues to remain by and large dismal.
Special vigil at Airports, Railway and Bus terminal, the PILsays, is generally advised as a mode of preventive measure for identifying thevictims and the carriers of the disease. “Under the precarious conditions, thestate health department is under an obligation to adopt and promote thepreventive measures in a concerted manner, lest to render the spread of theepidemic inevitable,” it adds.
The petitioner submits that crowded places like schools,hospitals, public utility centres including courts require special attention onsanitization and taking such measures to sieve off the infected people.
While the petitioner pleads that the medical andpara-medical staff is required to be trained and equipped with the method ofpreventive treatment and management of the epidemic with special attentiontowards prophylactic measures, PIL says the state government is under anobligation to develop infrastructure for keeping in readiness the PersonalProtective Equipments for the medical and para-medical staff.
The government, the petitioner said, is under an obligationto create awareness among the masses towards the development of immunity andinculcate sense of hygiene. “It is also responsible for keeping pathologicallaboratories accessible for the instant diagnostic tests.”
The petitioner pleads that in J&K required preventivemeasures have not been adopted so far, nor is there any preparedness to dealwith the situation especially when suspected to have influenced the localhealth conditions.
While the petition underlines that the government has failedto formulate any policy or taking any steps in imparting training to themedical and para-medical staff or in improving the hygienic conditions ofhospitals and medical centres, it adds that in absence of the scrutiny of thetravellers at the entry points, the local populace is susceptible to thehazards of the virus amid depleted preparedness.