ITANAGAR, Aug 7: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Gauhati High Court for issuing an ex parte order appointing a court commissioner to visit the state quarantine centre (SQC) in Lekhi.
Notices to the respondents are returnable within two weeks. The respondents are the Itanagar capital region district administration, the health & family welfare department, the government of India and the government of Arunachal.
The PIL, filed by one Sange Dakpa Loda, has sought the court’s intervention “as the SQC lacks basic facilities, sanitation and care, contradicting WHO recommendations.”
“Getting proper sanitation, food, medicines, and regular doctors’ visits will ultimately save their (inmates) lives,” it reads.
The petition states that the petitioner and his colleagues carried out “fact-finding by interacting and getting in touch with people who have lived and are still living there (SQC),” and found the centre lacking in facilities.
“Patients at the quarantine facility are suffering severely not only on account of their illness but also due to the negligence of the government authorities in providing basic facilities like sanitation, food, regular doctor visits, proper electrical,” it states.
It has also sought mandatory Covid-19 test for the frontline workers and regulating the prices for undergoing Covid-19 tests at private hospitals.
