Prayagraj Hospitals Under Threat From Private "Medical Mafias": High Court

Taking a serious note of the medical infrastructure of Prayagraj, the Allahabad High Court has said the government medical setup in the city is under great threat from private medical mafias and the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital cannot be called a hospital but rather a mortuary.

In its order on Friday, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal said, "Prayagraj is under the grip of medical mafias. SRN Hospital attached to Motilal Nehru Medical College is in a pathetic condition. The poor and helpless patients are being dragged by the touts posted by the medical mafias in the hospital to private medical set up and are not being treated in the hospitals attached to the medical college."

"The government medical set up is under great threat from the private medical mafias of the city," the bench summed up.

The court took a serious note of a report submitted by the two amicus curiae, appointed by the court, who inspected SRN Hospital and highlighted the inadequacy of facilities in the hospital and non-availability of doctors in OPD.

The court issued a slew of directions to improve condition of the SRN Hospital and also directed the Uttar Pradesh principal secretary to apprise about this order to the state government and place it before the chief secretary and if needed before the chief minister for his due consideration.

"Prayagraj has just witnessed Mahakumbh in the month of January-February, 2025. SRN Hospital is just one km away from the mela area. According to state estimate, around 66.30 crores pilgrims took holy dip in Sangam. The medical infrastructure of the city is in shambles. It was by the grace of God that no untoward incident happened otherwise there was no medical facility available for treatment of the patients," the court said.

"Prima facie, this court finds that nexus between private medical mafias and medical officers and staffs of the SRN Hospital has practically crippled the infrastructure and working condition," it said.

"The state and district administration are totally failing in providing the basic medical facilities to the residents of Prayagraj. The earlier affidavit filed by Principal Secretary, Medical Health demonstrates that cities like Lucknow, Kanpur and Gorakhpur have hospitals with a capacity of more than 2000 beds but Prayagraj has only medical capacity of 1750 beds despite the fact that biggest religious fair on the earth was held in Prayagraj in the month of January-February, 2025", the court further said.

It also came down heavily on the public representatives hailing from Prayagraj, saying, "The representatives of people in the parliament and state legislature from Prayagraj are also not taking any keen interest in the welfare and well-being of the citizens. There are ministers in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet from Prayagraj but they have not paid any attention to the deteriorating condition of the hospital attached to the medical college."

The court directed the district magistrate to constitute a team of officials who shall monitor and keep check on professor, assistant professor, associate professor, reader and lecturers of the medical college indulging in private practice.

It fixed May 29 next for further hearing.

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