Praveen Chaudhury, the deputy municipal commissioner of health and hospital for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), told the Gujarat High Court on Monday that the facilities currently available for the AMC-run Sheth VS hospital “will not be discontinued.”
The affidavit submitted by Chaudhury to the Gujarat High Court was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) opposing the demolition and reduction of bed capacity at VS Hospital.
The submission follows concerns raised by petitioner party-in-person advocate Khemchand Koshti that the hospital buildings are being demolished and that the hospital will eventually close, negatively impacting the public and depriving poor and middle-class patients of free healthcare in the city.
Following the petitioner’s submission last week, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court led by Chief Justice Aravind Kumar enquired from AMC’s counsel Anuj Trivedi about the hospital’s future plans.
Trivedi stated that the demolition is being carried out due to the dilapidated state of the buildings. The bench had insisted on a statement before the court outlining the hospital’s post-demolition plans.
Chaudhary, in the affidavit dated September 12, submitted that Sheth VS Hospital and Chinai Hospital, “presently accommodating in all 500 beds with the requisite infrastructure facilities related thereto will not be discontinued and that the same will be continued.”
Chaudhary also requested that the PIL be dismissed, taking into account his sworn statement before the court.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 19.
The 90-year-old charitable VS Hospital, established in 1931, was reduced from 1155 beds to 500 beds in December 2018, after the AMC opened the new SVP Hospital next door.