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GMSH-16 chemist shop’s lease wrongly extended, says Chandigarh health secretary
Hospital authorities have been wrongly extending the lease of the sole chemist shop, based on a finance department notice that was not even meant for hospital shops, says Chandigarh health secretary Yashpal Garg
Authorities at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, have been wrongly extending the lease of the sole chemist shop, based on a finance department notice that was not even meant for hospital shops, UT health secretary Yashpal Garg said on Saturday.
For 29 years, the only chemist shop at GMSH has been operated by the same firm through multiple extensions and renewals, and at minimal rent as compared to market price. The shop was allotted to Sunil Kumar Jain on lease for only two years through an auction in 1993. While the first lease ended in 1995, the hospital authorities never floated a fresh tender and have been extending the lease every five years, with the latest extension occurring in 2019 – for up to 2024, an inspection by the health department earlier this month had found.
“The extensions were made on the basis of a finance department notification issued in March 2000, which was amended in 2002. However, the department has clarified that the orders were not meant for shops/booths located within the campus of GMSH-16, which were allotted for a limited period through auction process,” Garg said.
He added, “Some licences/leases of the shops, booths and canteen at GMSH-16 have been extended for many years on the basis of the finance department notice. Since these notifications were not applicable, all such extended licences/leases of shops, canteens and booths on the campus of all government health facilities in Chandigarh need to be examined immediately for required corrective actions, with the approval of the competent authority.”
On Friday, a local court had ordered a stay on the GMSH chemist’s removal on the basis of a notice for encroachment, stating that there was no evidence on record that the UT health department initiated a fact-finding inquiry before coming to the conclusion that the sole chemist had demolished a partition wall and encroached upon a passage.
