NEW DELHI: Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital on Wednesday told Delhi High Court that it will provide free medical treatment to patients belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) to the extent of 10% in the inpatient department (IPD) and 25% in the outpatient department (OPD) with effect from March 1, 2023. The court was hearing a public interest litigation moved by an NGO, Social Jurist, against lack of free treatment facilities for poor patients in the hospital. The division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, considering the submission made on behalf of the hospital, disposed of the plea and directed the hospital to provide free treatment to EWS patients by complying with its submissions. The plea was filed in 2018 against the hospital for not providing free treatment to EWS patients to the extent of 10% in IPD and 25% in OPD. The petition stated, “The respondent hospital has made unwarranted profits during the last two decades by not providing free treatment at all to EWS patients. Therefore, it is liable to make good to society by paying such an amount of unwarranted profit to DDA (Delhi Development Authority) in terms of an earlier decision of the high court.”
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/cancer-hosp-promises-free-treatment-to-ews-patients/articleshow/97746873.cms