Notices to health officials over PIL on relief to dengue victims

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered notice to Union and State Health Secretaries on a petition praying to provide compensation to family members of patients who die of dengue. K K Ramesh of Madurai filed a public interest litigation petition stating that due to the poor  civic conditions in the State, vector-borne diseases like dengue have spread across the State.

He submitted that the State was not well prepared to control the outbreak of dengue, due to which all government and private hospitals in the State are flooded with dengue patients. Further, hundreds of people, including children and women, succumbed to the fever and it was the ultimate failure of the State Government.

The petitioner also submitted that the Central Government was taking steps to close down the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) institution in Madurai, which has been functioning for more than 33 years.

Hence the petitioner sought a directive to the State Government to provide compensation of `5 lakh to families of patients who die of dengue and a directive to the Centre not to shift ICMR from Madurai.
Admitting the petition, a Bench comprising Justices M Venugopal and Justice Abdul Quddhose ordered notice to the Central and State Health Secretaries and adjourned the case to October 24.