BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: Over four years after a woman delivered a baby in the open at a Faridabad based government hospital, the National Human Rights Commission has asked the Haryana government to pay the woman Rs one lakh as compensation.

Delhi based human rights activist Raj Hans Bansal who had moved the National Human Rights Commission in connection with the delivery in the open has welcomed the panel’s recent order in the case.

The Centre For Human Rights, which had filed a complaint before the NHRC, urged the government to take the “necessary corrective steps” and improve the quality of healthcare at all government-run hospitals. The final order “reiterates the accountability of governments in such cases of denial of health rights”, Mr Bansal said. The government should follow “appropriate standards and protocols, maintaining dignity and rights of patients”, it added.

Mr Bansal told DTMT, “The government should also strengthen human resources for healthcare facilities and set up a robust grievance redressal system.”

The incident happened on September 23, 2014, when a pregnant woman, Meena w/o Panchdev, from a nearby village in Faridabad was brought to Badshah Khan Hospital, Faridabad. She was refused a bed in the hospital, but the doctors and nurses allegedly left the room as she screamed out of labour pain. She soon gave birth to a baby in the open in the hospital premises, the report of the chief surgeon of Civil Hospital, Faridabad, said.

In its order dated December 12, 2018, the NHRC had observed that the case showed a “gross violation of human rights of a woman going into labour”. The commission also said there was prima-facie evidence of compromising procedure for institutional delivery and during the enquiry the doctor as well as staff nurses were found negligent.

The government must pay compensation to “give relief” to the victim. The commission has also ordered the chief secretary of Haryana Government to submit a compliance report along with proof of payment within eight weeks.

The NHRC has fixed action due date for March 9, 2019.