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The Supreme Court on Monday amended its order for free tests for coronavirus.
Highlight
- The superior court previously said that COVID-19 evidence would be released to all
- Later the decision changed as private hospitals could not afford it.
- Only those under Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana are eligible
New Delhi:
The free test for coronavirus will be available only to the poorest, the Supreme Court said today, leaving the government to decide who else should get the benefit. Private laboratories, the court said, may continue to charge the test fee as established by the Indian Council for Medical Research, the country’s nodal body for testing for coronavirus. The Center has allowed private laboratories to charge patients up to Rs 4,500 per test.
The court, which said last week that free tests for COVID-19 should be available to everyone, changed its decision after private laboratories said they could not afford it.
“We are seeing that the government is doing everything possible. We are modifying our order. We are saying that the government can decide which categories get free tests,” said the judges who heard the case.
In its order today, the court said that the free tests for COVID-19 will be available to “eligible individuals under the mandate of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana already implemented by the Government of India, and any other category of sectors more economically weak society as notified by the Government. “
The Center and the ministry of health can decide whether “any other category of the weakest sections”, such as workers belonging to low-income groups in the informal sectors or the beneficiaries of the direct benefit transfer and others should be eligible.
The government should make this decision within a week and inform the court, the judges said.
Last week, the court had ordered free tests for COVID-19, calling it a humanitarian problem.
But most private laboratories objected, saying that even under the 4,500 rupee government charge, they can barely recoup the costs, which include specific infrastructure, reagents, consumables and labor.
Calling the order “humanitarian,” Biocon Ltd President Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said it would be “impractical” to implement it.
“The Supreme Court orders that all coronavirus tests be done free, a trial that will severely affect the tests. Pvt labs simply cannot be expected to run their businesses on credit,” his tweet said.
