On Tuesday, the Supreme Court requested a response from the Center to a petition that sought to fix a uniform ceiling on the RT-PCR test for the detection of Coronovirus disease (COVID-19) throughout the country.
The petition filed by a lawyer Ajay Agrawal called for the nationwide fee for this test to be set at a maximum of Rs 400, as he presented ‘evidence’ from a Nagpur-based vendor who is willing to provide RT test kits. -PCR for as cheap as Rs 200.
A bench of three judges headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India (CJI) SA Bobde agreed to notify the Center and settled the matter for hearing two weeks later. On the next hearing day, the court will examine this issue along with a pending petition calling for subsidized treatment for Covid-19 patients in private hospitals.
Agrawal raised this issue in the public interest when he pointed out to the court that states were currently charging citizens at will. Delhi, for example, has set the rate for RT-PCR test kits at 2,400 rupees, while Andhra Pradesh has set it at 2,900 rupees. Haryana had the lowest rate at Rs 900 per test kit, while West Bengal and Karnataka last month revised these rates at Rs 1,500-1,600. Meanwhile, in neighboring Uttar Pradesh, as of October 31, government hospitals / laboratories charge 600 rupees per test, while private state hospitals continue to charge 1600 rupees per test.
“RT-PCR kits are currently available for less than Rs 200. The declarant has received a more recent quotation (for RT-PCR kits) dated November 21 from Nagpur-based Orange City Glassco Private Limited for Rs 199 plus a discount of up to Rs 25 on bulk purchase … there is no additional cost as the machines used for RT-PCR testing are already there with the labs as they use it to perform a large number of tests for (testing) other infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis , dengue, tuberculosis, malaria, etc. “Agrawal stated in his petition.
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He urged the Court to urgently consider the matter, as in the wake of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, citizens must take this test as soon as possible.
The petition read: “Millions of people have lost their jobs and most of the people are unemployed … It is the job of a welfare state to see the welfare of the people and stop this kind of loot.” Even at 400 rupees, the petitioner claimed that private establishments can still make a profit as most private laboratories / hospitals have already installed the testing machines.
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