REGISTRAR GENERAL, HIGH COURT Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the Bengaluru Edition of 'The New Indian Express' dtd. 16/10/2023, a news report titled 'Karnataka Short of 16,500 Medical Personnel' was published. It further highlighted that there is a shortfall of 454 Primary Health Centers in the State and that rural areas have inadequate medical facilities.

(2.) The report caught the eye of this High Court. The Court took suo motu cognizance of the said report and passed the order dtd. 7/11/2023, which reads as under,

(3.) The Registrar General, High Court of Karnataka - the petitioner, presented the public interest petition with extensive pleadings. It was quoted from the report that there was shortage of 723 MBBS doctors, 7,492 nurses, 1,517 lab technicians, 1,512 pharmacists, 1,752 attendants and 3,253 Group 'D' employees which constitute different categories of medical staff. It was highlighted that Chapter 12 of the aforementioned report dealt with healthcare and current standing of the Karnataka State in the healthcare sector. Subsequent to the publishing of the FICCI report, the Government of Karnataka notified an ordinance in Gazette publication dtd. 8/11/2023 wherein certain employees were exempted from compulsory rural service.