Cong corners Gujarat govt on transgressions at 2 private hospitals; ministers say action taken

Gandhinagar, Feb 24 (PTI) The BJP government on Monday informed the Gujarat assembly it has already taken strict action in incidents of wrongdoing at two private hospitals, one of them related to death of two "patients", after the Congress raised the twin matters in the house.

The opposition party demanded strict action against people who uploaded objectionable videos of women patients undergoing medical examination at a Rajkot private hospital and those responsible for death of two Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) beneficiaries at another private medical facility in Ahmedabad last year.

In its response, the BJP government informed the legislative assembly, which is having its budget session, that strict action has already been taken against the perpetrators and police investigation in both these cases was still on.

About the recent case of leaked CCTV footage of women patients, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch has arrested three persons and booked them on charges of "cyber terrorism" under section 66(f)(2) of the IT Act.

Hackers linked to the incident were operating from countries like Romania and Georgia, he said.

Sanghavi said Gujarat has become the first state to add a section pertaining to cyber terrorism in a case related to leaking CCTV footage.

A heated discussion ensued on Monday between the ruling and opposition benches over the issue of leaked CCTV footage of a Rajkot-based maternity facility and death of two persons following botched angioplasty procedures at Khyati Hospital in Ahmedabad last year.

During Question Hour, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda sought a CBI inquiry into the deaths of two PMJAY beneficiaries at Khyati Hospital in November last year following botched and unnecessary angioplasty procedures.

Chavda alleged many private hospitals in Gujarat are paying "commission" to government officials to clear the bills submitted after performing unnecessary surgeries on unsuspecting PM-JAY beneficiaries.

In his response, Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said all the accused of this case have been booked under the stringent section of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and the state government has withheld a payment of Rs 3.17 crore to Khyati Hospital.

"Following this incident, we have barred 22 hospitals and 6 doctors from performing surgeries under PM-JAY. A fine of Rs 19.9 crore has been imposed on these hospitals for irregularities. We have also made prior consent compulsory for private hospitals in case of such procedures," informed Patel.

The health minister noted that 43 different teams have been formed as part of the State Anti-Fraud Unit (SAFU) for intensive monitoring of functioning at all hospitals in Gujarat.

Later in the day, Shailesh Parmar (Congress) raised the issue of leaked CCTV footage of the Rajkot hospital and sought to know what action the government took against the perpetrators.

In his response, Minister of State for Home Sanghavi said three persons -- two from adjoining Maharashtra and one from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh -- have been arrested by the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch for allegedly acquiring hacked videos of women patients and then selling those clips to individuals through YouTube and Telegram platforms.

"It was revealed that the hackers, while sitting in countries like Romania and Georgia, had hacked CCTVs of several hospitals (including one in Rajkot) and gave those footage to the arrested accused. We learnt that two main hackers have hacked nearly 50,000 CCTVs installed at hospitals and other public places in India," Sanghavi told the house.

The junior home minister maintained police have frozen bank accounts of the arrested trio and served a notice to Telegram as the accused had used the popular messaging application to sell the objectionable clips.

On February 17, the Ahmedabad cyber crime branch lodged an FIR against unidentified persons after videos of women patients being examined by doctors inside the labour room of a hospital were circulated on Telegram and YouTube.

Later, the cyber crime branch learnt that the videos were part of CCTV footage of a Rajkot-based hospital, Payal Maternity Home. PTI PJT PD RSY

Source: PTI