498 reserved posts lying vacant in top govt. hospitals: Azad

New Delhi, Dec 10 (ANI): Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday informed that 498 posts under the reserved category were lying vacant in three top state-run hospitals in the national capital on account of death, retirement, resignation, non-availability of suitable candidates.

"498 reserved posts are lying vacant in three Central government hospitals -- Safdarjung hospital, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College and associated hospitals on account of death, retirement, resignation, non-availability of suitable candidates," Azad told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

"Recruitment and filling up of these posts is a continuous process and vacancies are filled up through the recruiting agencies based on requirement and also taking into account the government's reservation policy," he added.

Azad further said he would raise the issue with leading hospitals in the city over reports that the poor are not provided treatment as per regulations.

"A large number of complaints are pouring in that the poor people are not being treated to the extent the private hospitals are supposed to treat them. So we know about this and we would like to have a meeting again with them on the issue," he added.

Commenting on a television channel expose that leading private hospitals of Delhi were purportedly violating rules by not providing treatment to the poor, Azad said he had knowledge of the issue.

The Delhi High Court had on March 23, 2007 directed all private hospitals to offer free treatment to poor patients at the rate of ten percent in the Indoor Patient Department and 25 percent in the Outdoor Patient Department of their total respective treatment capacities.

The court had then pronounced that private hospitals, which had been allotted land at a concession in the national capital, must not charge bills from patients, whose family earning less than Rs 2,000 a month. (ANI)