The provision of basic medical facilities is a fundamental right under Article 21, necessitating state responsibility to ensure accessible and adequate healthcare infrastructure.

JUDGMENT :

G. Narendar C.J.

1. Director General, Medical Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mrs. Sunita Tamta is present.

2. Certain statistics are placed before the Court with regard to the status of the hospital, i.e., B.D. Pandey District Hospital, Nainital stating that the total extent of land over which the B.D. Pandey Hospital is set up is 4.75 Acres, and that the total constructed area occupies about 04 Acres; that funds have been allocated for construction of a transit hostel and Type-IV residential buildings, a boundary wall and a medical store, and that the work on these facilities is about to begin, and that interviews are being conducted for recruitment of medical officers as well as specialists, and presently 23 doctors are working under the NHM scheme, and that advertisement for recruitment of 287 medical officers has been issued on 13.11.2025.

3. A copy of the site plan, including the existing structures of the B.D. Pandey District Hospital, has been placed before us.

4. We have perused the same. We find that no land is available for expansion and the constructions already occupy more than 80 per cent of the site. Be that as it may, we have personally visited the hospital on earlier occasion, and what was shocking was that the entry to the hospital is virtually a one-way traffic. We found that no two vehicles can move together and the road or pathway cannot accommodate two vehicles simultaneously, more particularly, two ambulances. That apart, the area within the hospital also does not appear capable of accommodating multiple ambulances. That apart the hospital is situated in one of the busiest areas of Nainital town, and crowded streets and traffic jams are a regular feature. In fact, the year 2025 has witnessed a death in the ambulance itself as the ambulance was stuck in the traffic jam. There was also another incident where ambulance could not exit the hospital and reach the house of the ailing person on account of the roads being blocked. Chock-a-block traffic is a common feature Nainital town witnesses during weekends and holidays. The state of affairs is, least said the better. The topography and the location of the lake nearby and the soft soil prevent any road widening.

5. Keeping the above few factors, we have suggested to the Director General, Medical Health and Family Welfare to explore the possibility of exploiting the T.B. Sanatorium which is lying in disuse now, and which is situated between the Nainital town and Bhowali, as a centre to develop a mega medical complex where a multi-speciality and a super speciality hospital could be set up.

6. The other notable feature which has a negative impact is the high cost of living, including high rates of rents for residential accommodation, which acts as a deterrent for the salaried class leading to many of the medical practitioners, and paramedical staff, and other administrative staff opting for a residential accommodation in Haldwani town which consumes 90 minutes time to traverse one way, and as noted above, during the weekends and holidays, the travelling time increases to almost 150 minutes or 2½ hours.

7. The learned Chief Standing Counsel submits that, in fact, the State has also started work to widen the Nainital-Bhowali road which would certainly service any mega- medical centre, if put up in the T.B. Sanatorium area. It is also submitted that the T.B. Sanatorium possesses about 20 Acres of land which, in our view, would be sufficient to establish a world class facility, and it is a