Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a comprehensive ACB probe into the registration of private nursing homes in Delhi. The order came days after six infants died in a devastating blaze that engulfed Baby Care New Born Hospital in the Vivek Vihar area here.

In his note to the chief secretary, the LG said, “The recent fire incident at Baby Care Centre at Vivek Vihar, which left seven newly-born babies dead has left everyone shocked and dismayed. What is even more heart-rending is that parents belonging to lower income groups were being duped by this nursing home which was operating without a valid registration.”

He said the whole episode has brought out the “sheer mismanagement, criminal neglect and connivance of officials of the health department, in granting and renewing registrations of nursing homes”.

“At the same time, it puts a serious question mark on the ministerial responsibility, in a matter directly related to the health and lives of hapless residents of Delhi.To say the least, it is a sad reflection on the total absence of ministerial oversight in regulatory management of private health facilities in the city,” Saxena said.

Attacking the AAP government, he said, “Even after a tragedy of this magnitude, which should have stirred the conscience of political leadership, I am disappointed that the Chief Minister and Minister have paid only lip service and given sound bites, finding alibis and shirking responsibility. Administration cannot be run on social media, nor by brushing such serious matters under the carpet.”

Stating that he had taken a very stern view in the matter, Saxena said, “Though this is a transferred subject, in larger public interest, I am forced to step in, on account of the lack of seriousness on part of authorities entrusted with these responsibilities.”

Pointing out that there are 1,190 nursing homes, of which more than a quarter are operating “without a valid registration”, the LG said, “Also, there are many nursing homes in the city which have never applied for a registration but are still operating. Even those nursing homes, which have a valid registration, may not be meeting the safety and regulatory standards as prescribed in The Delhi Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1953 and the Rules made there under.”

He said the ACB is directed to undertake a comprehensive inquiry into the registration of nursing homes in the city to assess how many nursing homes are functioning without valid registrations and whether those which have valid registration are complying with prescribed norms as provided under Delhi Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1953 and the Rules made there under.

Apart from this, the LG directed the chief secretary “to advise all district magistrates to have a field verification done of their respective areas within two weeks to ascertain the actual number of functional nursing homes, which can then be compared with the list of the Health Department.”

He said this would give a sense of the magnitude of the problem and the extent of violations prevalent in the city.

“It has also come to my notice that even in this day and age, the registration procedure for nursing homes in Delhi is conducted manually, which leaves a lot of room for discretion, ambiguity and corruption. The Chief Secretary may accordingly ensure that an online portal is made operational with all data of compliances, registration and validity, which is open for public scrutiny,” the LG added.