By Justice Markandey Katju–
The Chief Justice of India, Justice Chandrachud, is very fond of cats.
From a reliable source, I learnt that one of his cats fell ill recently, and the CJI sent it to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi for treatment by the veterinary doctor posted there. The doctor performed an operation, and the cat has now recovered.
I am happy about that, but I wonder how many humans in India get medical treatment like the CJI’s cat?
If one goes to the All India Medical Institute, Delhi (AIIMS), one of the premier medical institutes in India, he/she will feel she is on a railway platform, with thousands of people milling around for hours or even days, without anyone caring.
Government hospitals in India are mostly no good, with doctors who should be there to attend to patients, working instead in their private clinics, while drawing government salaries. Meanwhile, private hospitals/clinics are too expensive for the common person.
So what can the common person do? She goes to quacks (called jholachhaap doctors), and the number of quacks would be several times the number of qualified doctors in India.
This also reminds me of an old joke: “When a Judge’s cat or dog dies, there is usually a huge crowd of lawyers and others at his home to console him on this great tragedy.
But when the Judge dies, there is no one.”
