‘Society Won’t Forgive Us If We Fail Our Doctors’: SC
Bench reserves verdict on plea seeking Covid insurance cover for private doctors and health workers excluded from PMGKP scheme.
- SC observes judiciary must protect doctors who died fighting Covid-19.
- Says assumption that private doctors worked for profit is “not correct.”
- Directs Centre to provide data on similar schemes beyond PMGKP.
- Judgment reserved on plea challenging exclusion of private practitioners.
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 28th Oct: The Supreme Court on Tuesday made a strong observation in defence of doctors and healthcare workers who lost their lives battling Covid-19, cautioning that “society will not forgive the judiciary if it doesn’t take care of doctors and stand for them.”
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan made the remarks while reserving its verdict on a plea challenging the exclusion of private doctors and health workers from the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme. The petition sought inclusion of those who died while serving in private clinics, dispensaries, and non-recognised hospitals during the pandemic.
“Society will not forgive us if we don’t take care of our doctors and don’t stand for them,” the bench said orally. “Merely because they were not in government duty, the assumption that they were making profits and then sitting idle is not correct. You should compel the insurance company to pay if the condition is met that they were on Covid response and died due to the virus.”
The court directed the Centre to submit relevant data and details of other similar or parallel schemes available apart from the PMGKP. “Give the data to us and some information about other parallel schemes available apart from the Pradhan Mantri scheme. We will lay down the principle and, on that basis, claims can be made to the insurance company,” the bench observed.
The plea was filed by Pradeep Arora and others, challenging a March 9, 2021, Bombay High Court judgment that denied insurance benefits to private hospital staff unless their services had been requisitioned by the state or Central government.
The case originated from a petition filed by Kiran Bhaskar Surgade, who lost her husband—a Thane-based doctor running a private clinic—to Covid-19 in 2020. Her insurance claim under the PMGKP was rejected on grounds that the clinic was not a government-recognised Covid hospital.
Launched in March 2020, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package provides ₹50 lakh insurance cover to health workers engaged in Covid-19 care. The scheme was intended to serve as a financial safety net for families of frontline workers who lost their lives during the pandemic.
The Supreme Court’s strong remarks are seen as a moral nudge to both the government and insurance providers to ensure fairness and compassion toward healthcare workers who risked their lives, regardless of whether they served in public or private facilities.
