23 April,2011 08:00 AM IST | | Sanjeev Devasia and Priyanka Vora
CAG report has rapped the state health services department for not opening hospital to public, more than three years after its construction was completed
A recent report, issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has pointed out an idle investment worth Rs 4.09 crore, on the construction of a hospital at Malvani, Malad, by the state government.
In the doc: The 60-bed hospital in Malvani, Malad, was initiated to
cater to the slum population in Malwani. PIC/Nimesh Dave
The report says that the government failed to ensure availability of hospital personnel concurrently with the completion of the construction work in March 2008. The hospital failed to offer services even after the purchase of equipment and medicine in March 2009.
The report mentions that the Public Health Department approved the construction of a 60-bed hospital at Malvani, following demands made by people's representatives for better provision of medical facilities in the area.
According to the report, scrutiny of the records revealed that the Director of Health Services placed a request for the sanction of 82 posts of medical and paramedical staff, necessary for smooth functioning of the proposed hospital, as late as February 2008.
In March 2009, the Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS) purchased furniture, machinery, medical equipment, medicines, linen, computers and printers, the total cost of which amounted to Rs 16.89 lakh.
The Municipal Corporation issued an occupation certificate in July 2009 for the constructed hospital building.
The executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) thereafter requested the DDHS to take possession of the building. The DDHS, however, refused, citing that the government had not filled up all the required posts.
Interestingly, the various materials purchased for the hospital were kept in DDHS' office, and the medicines, which were nearing expiry date by then, were transferred to the district hospitals of Raigad and Thane, on loan basis.
The overall result of this prolonged inertia was that the hospital building, built at a cost of Rs 3.93 crore, was not commissioned for over two years. Moreover, the material and equipment, worth Rs 15.51 lakh, remained unused for 20 months. The report has also pointed out that the intended beneficiaries were deprived of the promised medical facilities, and rapped the authorities for defective planning and tardiness in the implementation of public health projects.
The Other Side
Health Minister Suresh Shetty was unavailable for comment. When contacted by MiD DAY in January, Sanjay Nirupam, MP, had said, "I have taken up the issue with the state health department. We are pressing the department to open the hospital immediately."
For the people
The construction of the 60-bed hospital was initiated to cater to the slum population in Malwani, Charkop and Madh Island, areas that lack even a single public hospital till date.
Shut down
Matoshree Ramabai Thackeray Maternity Home in Ghatkopar (West) has been shut. Civic-run Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi hospital in Mira Road is also shut.
