HC forms panel to flag errant nursing homes

Directing the State Government to ban illegal nursing homes, Jharkhand High Court formed a three-member committee to find out which of the nursing homes are not abiding by the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 of the Government of India.A division bench of Chief Justice Virender Singh and Justice PP Bhatt was hearing a PIl highlighting bio-medical waste being dumped openly in the State capital. 

“After hearing the case, the court passed an order to form a committee comprising Member Secretary of Pollution Control Board, Director Health Services and CEO of Ranchi Municipal Corporation, which is to file an affidavit within two weeks stating which of the nursing homes, being run in the state capital, are violating the norms under Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010," said petitioner's advocate Ritu Kumar.

The order was pronounced in the presence of the Member Secretary of Pollution Control Board, who had been asked to remain in the court while hearing of the case, added Kumar.Government counsel Rajesh Shankar said that the committee has been entrusted with the responsibility to find out whether the bio-medical wastes coming out of private nursing homes and clinics are properly and periodically disposed of by the Ramgarh-based agency or not. The matter will be taken up again after two weeks on July 24, he said.  

The court was hearing a PIl filed by Jharkhand Human Rights Federation, demanding proper management of bio-medical waste coming out from the Government and private hospitals in Ranchi. According to the PIl, hospitals, both private and public, nursing homes, clinics and dispensaries were perennial offenders throwing bio-medical waste on to roads, drains and in water bodies.

Notably, as many as 22 incinerators in Jharkhand are used for treating around 5,000 kg of bio-medical wastes generated per day from more than 700 medical facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes with a combined capacity of 16,866 beds.Interestingly, the State capital has only one operational incinerator located at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS). The incinerator is working below the optimum capacity as three coils of the plant have become defunct. Most of the bio-medical waste generated in Ranchi is treated at a treatment plant situated at Ramgarh.

RIMS administration, during the hearing, has already submitted that out of a total capacity of 100 kg per hour, it was using only half of the capacity (50 kg per hour) of the incinerator.The State government, however, has informed the court that they have selected land for disposal of bio-medical waste and was working on the project expected to be completed soon.