The High Court has ordered five medical colleges in the state to provide day and night post-mortem facilities within six months. It should be implemented in Kasaragod General Hospital which does not have a medical college.

Last month, the Union Health Ministry had ordered that the post-mortem be done at night as well. Six years ago, the state government had ordered night post-mortems at major medical colleges. But this did not happen. It is sad to say that many government orders are like this. The government is ordering a number of measures that will benefit the people. But then it goes unnoticed for a number of reasons. But if it is related to the salary revision of the employees, it will be implemented within a month. This is a matter of attitude. Effort is required to implement any order. It has to be done at the official level. The order probably did not say it should be done in time bound manner.

Finally, the High Court had to ask where the government had been for the past six years after ordering the night post-mortem. The Kerala Medico-Legal Society has filed a petition in the High Court seeking enforcement of the government order. Kasargod MLA N.A. Nellikunnu had joined the party in the case.

The High Court has directed the government to conduct night post-mortems at Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode Medical Colleges and Kasaragod General Hospital. The court also instructed the government to set up basic facilities in medical colleges and recruit medical and paramedical staff within six months.

The government explained that there was a lack of facilities to enforce the night postmortem order. The apex court said the decision was "surprising" and suggested that a committee of experts be appointed to examine the facilities at these hospitals for post-mortems at night, and that the delay in performing the post-mortem violated the rights of the deceased.

There is a general tendency for the government to wait until someone goes to court in a case. There must be an end to this. The government that is responsible for doing everything can be blamed by everyone because the officials responsible for enforcing the orders are not ready for it. In many places, the position of organized unions is a hindrance. Top political leadership should intervene in such cases. The people will get the benefits of governance only if the orders of the government are implemented.