The Supreme Court has issued a powerful statement, emphasizing that all doctors, including private practitioners, who tragically lost their lives while serving on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic should be eligible for the ₹50 lakh compensation under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme. A bench led by Justice PS Narasimha highlighted that such healthcare heroes, who bravely kept their clinics open and succumbed to the virus, deserve this recognition.
The court found issue with the Union government’s narrow interpretation of eligibility, which limited the benefit to only those doctors formally requisitioned by state or central authorities. The PMGKP scheme, established in March 2020, was designed to provide insurance cover to healthcare workers, including private staff, who were tasked with COVID-19 responsibilities.
Expressing pride in the nation’s doctors, who were hailed as frontline warriors during the pandemic, the bench remarked, “If they opened their clinics during Covid time, what else were they opening it for? We are proud of our doctors. Hundreds of doctors have passed away. We are a great country where doctors were frontline warriors during Covid and offered their services, risking their lives and health.”
The court’s stance was firm in rejecting the government’s argument that the scheme was purely an insurance measure with specific conditions. Instead, the bench underscored the need to consider the scheme’s intent alongside the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic.
Justice Narasimha noted, “If doctors open their clinics during Covid, they do not give haircuts there. It is very easy to say today that they could have stayed home, but what was the purpose of all your notifications at that time? Services of everyone who could help were being summoned.”
While the government contended that only those “formally drafted” were eligible, the court countered that the undeniable fact of their sacrifice and service could not be ignored. Justice Narasimha recalled the grim reality of the pandemic, stating, “Assumption that all private practitioners were profit-making individuals is not right. Hospitals were not available; doctors were not picking up calls. I still remember I had taken my son to a hospital and I came across a body being wheeled out. The situation was grim.”
The Supreme Court stressed that it is not the place of the government or the court to question the motives of private doctors who bravely continued to treat patients. “We have no reason to believe that all private doctors were only making money,” the bench emphasized. “Everyone is a citizen of this country and free to go to a private or government hospital. Just because someone went to a private practitioner can be no reason to believe that they did not suffer from Covid or Covid-related complications.”
The court announced its intention to lay down binding principles for the authorities to disburse compensation to the families of all frontline health workers who perished due to COVID-19. “These are our doctors, and the country will not forgive us if we do not stand for our doctors,” it declared.
The court indicated that its order would direct the government and the insurance company to process claims that meet two essential conditions: that the doctor had kept their clinic or establishment open to provide medical services during the pandemic, and that their death was attributed to COVID-19. This approach aims to ensure that the sacrifices of these medical professionals are duly recognized and compensated.