On Friday, the Bombay High Court said it was not satisfied with the Maharashtra government’s progress in framing guidelines for door-to-door vaccination against Covid-19.
Advocates Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking door-to-door vaccination for the elderly, differently abled and those who are bedridden.
The Maharashtra government had told the Bombay High Court on June 22 that it would frame, within a week, guidelines for door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination. However, the court on Friday said it was not satisfied with the Maharashtra government’s progress in framing guidelines.
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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the high court that it is conducting a survey for in-home vaccination and has so far identified 2,780 bedridden patients across 24 wards of the city. Only seven wards have completed the survey so far.
From the state’s data, the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni noted that in Pune, there are 50 bedridden citizens till now, whereas Pimpri Chinchwad has more than 190.
“You better start from Pimpri Chinchwad because in Pune, there are only 50 bedridden people as of now,” the bench said.
It further said, “We want appropriate guidelines. By now, the Maharashtra government should have framed a policy; otherwise, the vaccination drive gets delayed. We are not satisfied with the progress.”
The bench said it expects the state government to frame the guidelines by July 20.
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During the hearing, Kapadia pointed out a news report that authorities have said only those bedridden for at least six months can benefit.
“We will consider all this during the next hearing. Till then, we need to see some progressive steps,” the bench said.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the high court that information was sought from the public across the state through social media on bedridden persons who wish to get the jab at home.
“An email ID has been created for information on bedridden citizens. Name, age, sickness are the requisite information. To date, we have received 13,584 responses,” he said.
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Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bombay-hc-not-happy-with-delay-in-framing-maharashtra-s-home-vaccination-rules-1829171-2021-07-17
