LURSHAPHRANG SHONGWAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An affidavit has been filed by the Secretary in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya indicating the facilities available for cancer patients in the State and the State government's efforts to improve the number of beds and augment the measures of treatment imparted to cancer patients at the Shillong Government Hospital and the like.

(2.) However, a lot more needs to be done and many more beds ought to be added considering the number of cancer patients in the State. The petitioner has made several suggestions in the petition. Most of the suggestions, if they were implemented, would entail huge expenditure and the Court is not in a position to assess the finances available to the State government nor will the Court issue a mandamus in such regard. Suffice it to say that the facilities for cancer patients are inadequate and serious and large-scale augmentation is necessary, in addition to what has been done or it is proposed to be done.

(3.) According to the petitioner, the suggestions that have been made in the writ petition ought to be accepted. Since every measure that the State government is required to take involves expenses and depends on the available funds and resources obtained from the Centre, all that the Court can do in such a situation is to act as a catalyst to ensure that proper measures are taken as expeditiously as possible so that a system is put in place which is able to deal with the needs of the people in the State suffering from cancer.