12,543 private hospitals applied for licence renewal, DGHS informs HC

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Wednesday informed the High Court that 12,543 private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres in the country have submitted applications seeking their licence renewal, reports UNB.
Deputy attorney general Amit Dasgupta informed the HC bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman about it on Wednesday.
According to the DGHS information, though the government has a list of licensed hospitals, it has no list of unlicensed hospitals.
A list of Covid and Non-Covid hospitals has been published on the DGHS website, Amit informed the court.
Later, the court dropped the writ petition from the cause-list.
On August 31, the High Court asked the authorities concerned to inform it about the number of private hospitals across the country which have licences and which have no licences.
Barrister Abdul Halim and advocate Ishrat Hasan appeared for the writ petitioner while Amit appeared for the state.
On July 26, barrister Abdul Halim filed the writ petition on behalf of Ishrat Hasan seeking directives to publish the list of all legal and licensed hospitals, diagnostic centres and hospitals designated for coronavirus treatment in the country.
The health secretary, home secretary, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services and managing director of Regent Hospital were made respondents to the writ.