Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Verified, Updated Information On Availability Of Beds, Essential Drugs And Distribution Of Oxygen

  • Shruti Kakkar
  • 10:12 PM, 06 May 2021

Read Time: 10 minutes

An intervention application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions in the Suo Moto case related to CoVID crisis management at PAN India level to seeking court’s assistance for access to verified, updated information on availability of beds & distribution of oxygen to to ensure that citizens are guaranteed timely & effective medical treatment & support through information published by the Central and State governments on a regular basis on their websites and at hospitals. 

The Application preferred by Ms. Anjali Bhardwaj, a senior transparency & accountability activist in the country & filed through Senior Advocate Mr Prashant Bhushan states that many people have lost their lives due to inability to secure a hospital bed or oxygen facility in a timely manner and there are innumerable reports of people succumbing outside hospitals waiting for beds or en route when they are running from one hospital to another searching for beds.

It is crucial that credible, accurate and up-to-date information about the availability and utilisation of hospital beds, oxygen supply and essential drugs be made available in the public domain. Availability of this information will not only help COVID affected patients and their families in locating life-saving resources in a timely manner, but will also prevent black marketing, hoarding, extortion and cornering of resources by vested interests by enabling public monitoring. Information should be proactively disclosed by the concerned authorities in the public domain, in both online and off- lines modes and in such form, manner and language that it is most accessible to people as also envisaged by section 4 of the Right to Information Act.”, the plea states.

In this backdrop, the Applicant has suggested for inclusion of the following parameters of information in the public domain by the State Government for all CoVID designated hospitals in the State & by Central government for Central Government hospitals through both dedicated websites & physically outside each hospital: 

  • Name and address of the hospital
  • Total number of designated & available COVID 19 beds
  • Number of beds available in ICU with ventilator & without ventilator
  • Number of general hospital beds available with oxygen & without oxygen facility
  • Date and time when this information was last updated
  • Name and mobile number of the nodal officers for admission to the hospital
  • Link to GPS location of the hospital (only for website)

In this context, suggestions have also been made to further update the information once every eight hours & absence of any login credentials for viewing this information. 

Such information must be updated once every eight hours and it must be ensured that the websites do not require any login credentials to view this information. The boards outside hospitals must be placed in an area where the public can easily view the information. Further, the criteria, if any, being used by hospitals to determine eligibility for admission must also be displayed on the boards outside the hospital and on the websites as well.”, the applicant also submits. 

Emphasising on the availability of essential drugs used in the treatment of CoVID 19, the applicant has also suggested for placing in the public domain information by state governments for all COVID designated state Govt hospitals and by the central government for central government hospitals, both through dedicated websites and physically outside each hospital indicating:

  • Name and address of the hospital & name & mobile number of Nodal Officer of the Hospital,
  • Names of essential drugs and stock positions for each
  • Date and time when this information was last updated

In this context, suggestions have also been made to further update the information once every twelve hours & absence of any login credentials for viewing this information. 

Lastly, the applicant has suggested for inclusion of crucial information to be updated after every twelve hours about demand of oxygen by states & supply by the Central Government in the public domain by including the following particulars: 

  • Amount of oxygen required by each state,
  • Date and time of the request made by a State & Supply provided by Centre 
  • Details of quantity of oxygen provided to each state

Reliance has been placed on Apex Court judgement in State of UP v. Raj Narain, AIR 1975 SC 865, S.P. Gupta v. President of India and Ors, AIR 1982 SC 149, Reliance Petrochemicals Ltd vs Proprietors Of Indian Express 1989 AIR 19, Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, AIR 2002 SC 2002, Reserve Bank of India Versus Jayantilal N. Mistry Transferred Case (Civil) No. 91 Of 2015 to submit that Right to Information is not only a constitutional right of the citizens but there is now a legislation in the form of RTI Act which provides a legal regime for people to exercise their fundamental right to information and to access information from public authorities.