PATNA: A contempt petition has been filed in the Patna high court against the government’s failure to take certain steps it had promised to the court seven years ago for controlling all types of encephalitis, including acute encephalitis syndrome (AES), across the state.
The then health secretary, Amarjeet Sinha, had to physically appear before the Patna high court in a PIL filed to seek direction to the government to take measures for curbing the spread of encephalitis-related cases and deaths in the state. In the status report submitted to the court, the state government on December 5, 2011 had assured certain steps to check Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and AES, which had claimed over 80 lives in Gaya district that year.
The division bench of Justices T Meena Kumari and Chakradhari Sharan Singh had directed the state government to spread encephalitis powder to eradicate the disease in Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna and other districts. It had also observed that steps must be taken with the help of homeopathic and allopathic doctors within four weeks’ time to eradicate the disease. The PIL was disposed of with these observations on June 28, 2012.
In the backdrop of the high court order, the PIL petitioner, Dhirendra Kumar of Gaya, filed the contempt petition on Friday following the death of over 150 children due to AES this year. His counsel Sunil Kumar said the case would be mentioned before Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi on Monday for urgent hearing. The state government, chief secretary Deepak Kumar, health secretary Sanjay Kumar, health services director-in-chief Dr RD Ranjan, Gaya DM Abhishek Singh and four other officials have been made respondents in the case.
In the status report, the then health secretary had mentioned that most of the children suffering from encephalitis appeared to be malnourished and weak. “It is for this reason that the state government is coming up with a special integrated initiative for tackling encephalitis in Gaya and Muzaffarpur,” the report reads. The report said lakhs of children were immunized, 12,668 blood samples collected and fogging in 464 villages had been done in Gaya since the outbreak of JE in late August 2011.
The report also mentioned that the state government was consulting experts to finalize an integrated plan against encephalitis in Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts, with a thrust on Mahadalit hamlets. The government also told the court that mass public information campaign was carried out to inform the poor household to admit children at first sign of brain fever, besides direction for continuous fogging and DDT spray.
“Had the government taken action, many children could have been saved,” the counsel said.
The petitioner has now alleged that the authorities knowingly and deliberately violated the HC order as they did not take any steps to control or eradicate encephalitis and are liable for punishment. Due to the state health department’s failure to act, encephalitis claimed over 150 lives in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur and several other districts this year, the petitioner alleged.
The then health secretary, Amarjeet Sinha, had to physically appear before the Patna high court in a PIL filed to seek direction to the government to take measures for curbing the spread of encephalitis-related cases and deaths in the state. In the status report submitted to the court, the state government on December 5, 2011 had assured certain steps to check Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and AES, which had claimed over 80 lives in Gaya district that year.
The division bench of Justices T Meena Kumari and Chakradhari Sharan Singh had directed the state government to spread encephalitis powder to eradicate the disease in Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna and other districts. It had also observed that steps must be taken with the help of homeopathic and allopathic doctors within four weeks’ time to eradicate the disease. The PIL was disposed of with these observations on June 28, 2012.
In the backdrop of the high court order, the PIL petitioner, Dhirendra Kumar of Gaya, filed the contempt petition on Friday following the death of over 150 children due to AES this year. His counsel Sunil Kumar said the case would be mentioned before Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi on Monday for urgent hearing. The state government, chief secretary Deepak Kumar, health secretary Sanjay Kumar, health services director-in-chief Dr RD Ranjan, Gaya DM Abhishek Singh and four other officials have been made respondents in the case.
In the status report, the then health secretary had mentioned that most of the children suffering from encephalitis appeared to be malnourished and weak. “It is for this reason that the state government is coming up with a special integrated initiative for tackling encephalitis in Gaya and Muzaffarpur,” the report reads. The report said lakhs of children were immunized, 12,668 blood samples collected and fogging in 464 villages had been done in Gaya since the outbreak of JE in late August 2011.
The report also mentioned that the state government was consulting experts to finalize an integrated plan against encephalitis in Muzaffarpur and Gaya districts, with a thrust on Mahadalit hamlets. The government also told the court that mass public information campaign was carried out to inform the poor household to admit children at first sign of brain fever, besides direction for continuous fogging and DDT spray.
“Had the government taken action, many children could have been saved,” the counsel said.
The petitioner has now alleged that the authorities knowingly and deliberately violated the HC order as they did not take any steps to control or eradicate encephalitis and are liable for punishment. Due to the state health department’s failure to act, encephalitis claimed over 150 lives in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur and several other districts this year, the petitioner alleged.
Quick Links
Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2019Lok Sabha Election NewsDelhi Capitals teamMI team 2019Rajasthan Royals 2019RCB team 2019Maharashtra Lok Sabha ConstituenciesBJP Candidate ListBJP List 2019 TamilnaduShiv Sena List 2019AP BJP List 2019Mamata BanerjeeBJP List 2019 MaharashtraPriyanka GandhiBJP List 2019 KarnatakaAMMK Candidate List 2019BJP List 2019 WBLok Sabha Elections in Tamil NaduBSP List 2019 UPNews in TamilLok Sabha Poll 2019Satta Matka 2018PM ModiMahagathbandhanNagpur BJP Candidate ListChandrababu NaiduTamil Nadu ElectionsUrmila MatondkarNews in TeluguMadras High CourtTejashwi YadavArvind KejriwalTejasvi SuryaPawan KalyanArvind KejriwalYogi AdityanathJaya PradaSatta King 2019Srinagar encounter
Get the app