Ramp up testing, High Court tells State

Taking note of the collective submissions made by Senior Counsel L Ravichander, Prabhakar Chikkudu, Vasuda Nagaraj, and others, the panel also directed the Centre to file a detailed affidavit explaining the deficiencies by April 27

Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijayasen Reddy, on Friday expressed serious dissatisfaction against the Central government for its inability to cope with oxygen and medicine supplies required in the State. Taking note of the collective submissions made by Senior Counsel L Ravichander, Prabhakar Chikkudu, Vasuda Nagaraj, and others, the panel also directed the Centre to file a detailed affidavit explaining the deficiencies by April 27. Syed Ali Murtuza Rizvi, Principal Secretary, Health Medical and Family Welfare Department, and Director of Public Health appeared before the court through video conference.

Coming down heavily on the State Government for its ‘poor management’ of the present pandemic situation, the panel pointed out various deficiencies in the status report filed by the officers. Pointing out at the report, the panel observed that of the 19 lakh tests conducted in the State for the last 21 days, only 3 lakh are RTPCR and that too a major portion of them are conducted in GHMC, Medchal- Malkajgiri, Rangareddy, and Sangareddy districts.

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The State could have conducted 8.4 lakh tests as per its claimed capacity of testing, but the numbers are below half its capacity, the panel pointed out and remarked no attempt was made to ramp up tests. Knowing very well and being aware of the second wave, the State is completely unprepared with the required infrastructure. The panel observed that 198 deaths had taken place over the said period with the highest number of deaths being recorded in the GHMC area. The positivity rate in the Nirmal district is the highest followed by Nizamabad, Jagitial, and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts, the panel said and directed the State to ramp up testing.

The court had called upon the State to constitute an advisory committee under the Disaster Management Act to deal with the increase in the cases. Dealing with the government order overnight curfew, the panel noted that these restrictions do not address the spike that can be traced back to marriage functions, political rallies, and other congregations that do not have a cap if conducted outdoors. The Chief Justice stated that as municipal elections in five districts are approaching, there is a high possibility of a spike during the said time and the panel directed the State to issue SOPs in polling booths and directed the State to indicate steps taken to curb political rallies in the next status report.

The Secretary of the Health Department, Syed Rizwi stated that the government does not intend to stall any inter-State travel due to an existing Central government advisory that directs the State to ensure open traffic between States. The panel, however, directed the State to initiate steps to increase testing at every point of entry into the State namely National Highways, inter-State bus terminals, and railway stations through the use of mobile testing vans that can be deputed to the said locations. The matter was adjourned to April 27.

Setback for edu institutions

The panel dismissed a batch of petitions filed by various branches of Sri Chaitanya Junior college and Narayana Junior College, Gouthami Junior College, Sri Gayathri Educational Society, Sri Vishnavi Academy located around the GHMC area. The petitioners challenged the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education’s order on March 24 which asked the institutions to shift the students of the first year Intermediate to other buildings for the forthcoming academic year on the ground that certain norms and standards were not satisfied. The panel upheld the proceedings of the Board and dismissed the batch of petitions.