The Himachal Pradesh high court has taken serious note of complaints about lifts that are not working in many government hospitals. These lifts are important for elderly, sick and weak patients who find it difficult to climb stairs. After receiving a representation on this issue, the chief justice decided to take suo moto action, which means the court started the case on its own without any formal petition. The court has now asked the state government to give full details about the condition of lifts in public hospitals across Himachal Pradesh.
A division bench of chief justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj heard the matter. They said that the issue raised is very serious because old patients and people with poor health are not being allowed to use the lifts in some hospitals. According to the representation received by the court, one lift in a hospital was kept only for doctors and staff, while the lift for the general public was not working. This forced patients to climb several floors just to reach important medical services.
The bench issued notices to the concerned officials and asked them to explain the situation. The court has asked the secretary (health) to file an affidavit before December 29. This affidavit must include details such as:
How many government hospitals in the state have multiple floors
Whether these hospitals have designated lifts for patients
How many of these lifts are actually in working condition
The court wants to understand clearly if hospitals have proper lift facilities and whether these lifts are being maintained for patient use. It also wants to know if hospitals are following rules that say lifts should be available for people who need help moving between floors.
The high court has added several officials as respondents in the case. These include the chief secretary, the secretary (health), the director of health services, the chief medical officer of Deendayal Hospital in Shimla, and other concerned officers. This means all these officials must give information and respond to the court’s questions.
The court also remarked that the situation does not match the state government’s claims of providing “world-class healthcare”. If the lifts do not work and patients have to climb stairs, then the basic needs of patients are not being met. This is especially true for patients who are elderly, disabled or suffering from serious health problems.
The representation submitted to the chief justice explained that in certain hospitals, only the lift used by doctors and staff is operational. Meanwhile, the lift meant for public use is out of order for long periods of time. This creates a very difficult situation for patients who cannot walk easily or climb multiple floors. Many of them come for check-ups, tests or emergency care, and they must struggle to reach the required department or ward.
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This notice from the high court has come at a time when the chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has been talking about major reforms in the state’s healthcare system. He has repeatedly said that the government is committed to providing high-quality medical facilities to people in every part of Himachal Pradesh. However, the high court’s action shows that basic problems still exist in some hospitals, and these issues must be fixed for the system to improve.
The court’s intervention may push the government to speed up repair work and ensure that essential equipment like lifts is always functioning. It may also force hospitals to review their internal rules, especially regarding lifts reserved only for doctors and staff. The court’s main concern is that patients should not suffer due to poor maintenance or unfair use of hospital facilities.
As part of its order, the court has said that it wants continuous monitoring of these issues. It may ask for further reports or actions if the government does not provide proper solutions. By setting a deadline of December 29 for the affidavit, the court has made it clear that the matter is urgent and must be addressed quickly.
This case highlights how important lift facilities are in multi-storey hospitals. Without working lifts, elderly people, pregnant women, injured patients, and those with chronic diseases face serious difficulties. In some cases, they may even miss important treatment because they cannot reach the correct floor in time. The court wants to ensure that such situations do not happen in government hospitals.
Going forward, the health department will have to check every hospital and prepare a detailed list of the lift facilities available. They will need to identify lifts that are not working, explain why they are not functioning, and give a plan for repairing or replacing them. The court’s action also puts pressure on the administration to maintain lifts properly in the future so that such problems do not repeatedly occur.
Once the affidavit is filed, the court will review the information and decide what the next steps should be. It may issue further directions if needed to ensure that hospital facilities are upgraded and made more patient-friendly. For now, the high court’s notice has brought more attention to the difficulties faced by patients in government hospitals due to non-working lifts.
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