‘247 health clinics that failed to reply to notices to be penalised, sealed’

Dehradun: The Dehradun health department has said they are going to levy penalties and proceed with sealing of health clinics and hospitals that have not renewed their licences.

Dr Sanjay Jain, chief medical officer (CMO), said, “It was seen that several such establishments stopped complying to the guidelines post COVID-19 pandemic. Notices were sent to over 460 medical centres in the district that have not renewed their registrations since 2020. A penalty of Rs 100 is being levied on a per day basis.”

According to officials, following the notices, 83 health centres have declared themselves to be permanently closed while 110 have paid the fine and applied for renewal.

However, 247 establishments have not responded to the notices. “If they fail to do the needful, action will be taken against them,” the CMO said.

The health department said that the primary focus is on renewals and penalties. “Since health services are limited here, sealing any establishment would be the last option,” a source in the department said.