SC orders Centre, state govts to ensure payment of salary to doctors, health workers

Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Centre to issue directions to states for payment of salaries and providing necessary quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers engd in treating COVID-19 patients. government told court it would issue necessary directions.

A bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah said that doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients should t be denied quarantine facilities. top court asked Centre to file a compliance report within four weeks on payment of salaries and quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers and warned that n-compliance would be viewed seriously. bench was hearing a plea filed by a private doctor raising questions on Centre's May 15 decision that 14-day quarantine was t mandatory for doctors.

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Doctor Arushi Jain, in her petition filed through advocates Mithu Jain and Arjun Syal, had alleged that front line healthcare workers engd in fight against COVID-19 are t being paid salaries or ir ws are being cut or delayed.  During hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre said that government would issue directions to states and union territories within 24 hours to ensure timely payment of salaries to doctors and health care workers.  

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He said that May 15 circular on Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will also be modified and do away clause for n-mandatory quarantine for  healthcare workers engd in COVID duty. Mehta also gave assurance that a new order would be issued for providing suitable alternate accommodation for doctors and healthcare workers engd in COVID duty to avoid risk to ir family members.

He said that Centre is also thinking to make n-payment of salaries by hospitals to health care workers a criminal offence under National Disaster Manment Act. bench said that necessary directions be issued by union health secretary and chief secretaries of State.

On June 12, top court had observed, In war, you do t make soldiers unhappy. Travel extra mile and channel some extra money to address ir grievances.  It had said that courts should t be involved in issue of n-payment of salary to health care workers and government should settle issue.

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Senior advocate K V Viswanathan, appearing for petitioner, had said that if doctors on COVID duty are t provided accommodation near hospitals ir family/friends are exposed to higher risk of infection. He had said that doctors and or healthcare workers, who are engd in COVID duty, run a great risk of exposure of infection without proper PPE kits and without proper accommodation, ir family members are also at higher risk of infection.

On June 4, Centre had told top court that a large number of make-shift hospitals will have to be built in near future to accommodate constant rise in number of newly infected people.    Centre had also contended that though hospitals are responsible for implementing Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) activities, final responsibility lies with healthcare workers to protect mselves from COVID-19. It had furr said mandatory quarantine for 14 days after duty of healthcare workers of 7/14 days is t justified and warranted. 

It is most respectfully submitted that number of cases of COVID-19 are constantly increasing and at some point of time in near future, apart from existing hospitals, large number of temporary make-shift hospitals will have to be created in order to accommodate COVID-19 patients requiring admission, medical care and treatment, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said in an affidavit.

On April 8, apex court had observed that doctors and medical staff are "first line of defence of country" in battle against COVID-19 pandemic, and directed Centre to ensure that appropriate PPEs are made available to m for treating coronavirus patients. 

(im credit PTI)

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