In the wake of a severe shortage of healthcare personnel in Karnataka, the High Court there has issued key directions to shore up the bedraggled State’s healthcare infrastructure. A division bench recently directed the Karnataka High Court to form a three-member committee to include the Secretary of State Department of Health and Family Welfare. The committee will monitor implement framework for upgradation of medical institutions/ infrastructure at city, district and rural levels. The court had taken suo-motu cognisance of a public interest litigation based on a news report published in The New Indian Express, which stated that Karnataka had a deficit of 16,500 medical personnel. The right to health and medical care is a fundamental right and as such imposes a constitutional mandate on the state to ensure that there are sufficient medical facilities, the court said. The state government must be proactive with medical infrastructure, especially in rural areas, where healthcare requirements are often neglected, the Bench said.