The Odisha High Court on Friday asked the State Government to ensure that adequate publicity is made in both print and electronic media about the free treatment available to poor patients in private hospitals, which have got Government land for free or at a concessional rate. In an interim order passed on the day while adjudicating over a PIl, the Division Bench of Justices AK Rath and BR Sarangi ordered that the State Government notification made in this regard in July this year shall be widely published in media for the benefit of the poor patients, informed petitioner advocate Khirod Rout.
Petitioner Rohan Mohanty had moved the HC stating that despite a SC guideline made in November 2011 for free treatment to a certain percentage of poor patients in private hospitals, the Odisha Govt was unaware about it till May this year.