Assess capacity of COVID-19 helplines: HC to govts.

Court takes notice of video showing man struggling to get help for his mother

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre and the city government to assess the capacity of COVID-19 helplines to adequately deal with the call traffic.

A Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar gave the direction after taking suo moto cognizance of a video clip showing a man struggling to find a hospital bed for his COVID-19 positive mother due to unresponsive helpline numbers.

In the video, which has been widely circulated on social media, a man who identifies himself as Dharmendra Bhardwaj says he is standing outside Max Patparganj Hospital, which told his mother to arrange for a ventilator and a bed in some other hospital after she tested positive for the virus. Mr. Bhardwaj claims he visited several hospitals, but to no avail, and that helpline number 1075 was unresponsive.

The HC remarked that the “video recording raises serious issues of public concern in the present-day context”.

Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra submitted that some of the helpline numbers were found not to be functioning efficiently and instructions have been issued to set the system in order. He added that the helpline number 1075 is managed by the Centre.

The Centre’s counsel said that 1075 is an All-India helpline number and about three lakh calls have been received on the number.

The HC ordered the governments to “assess the adequacy of the helpline capacity and state whether the same is sufficient to deal with the present call traffic and the traffic expected in the foreseeable future”.

The court has asked for a status report on June 3, the next date of hearing.