Year after construction: Machinery, staff allocation to Moga’s Ayush hospital put on backburner

A 50-bed Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospital at Duneke village in Moga, construction of which was completed in January last year, is yet to be opened.

A 50-bed Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospital at Duneke village in Moga, construction of which was completed in January last year, is yet to be opened. Now, when the hospital is ready, the local health department is “dilly-dallying” on the inauguration as the state government is yet to provide the required staff and machinery.

In a bid to promote alternative and traditional system of medicine, the state government had announced to set up a 50-bed AYUSH hospital at Duneke village on National Highway 95 in Moga in 2020. (HT photo)

Moga deputy commissioner Kulwant Singh said that the construction of the building is completed. “But the machinery and manpower for the hospital have not been allocated by the health department so far. Due to this, the hospital has not been opened so far,” he added.

The district ayurvedic medical officer Dr Navdeep Singh Brar said an official communication has been forwarded to the government for providing the required staff and machinery.

An official of the construction company said that the construction of the hospital was completed last year on January 6 but the department is “going back and forth” to take over the facility.

In a bid to promote alternative and traditional system of medicine, the state government had announced to set up a 50-bed AYUSH hospital at Duneke village on National Highway 95 in Moga in 2020. After Mohali, Moga would have been the second district in the state to get the AYUSH hospital under the Ayush service component of the National Ayush Mission. The foundation stone of the hospital was laid by then Punjab health minister Balbir Singh on February 20, 2020. The hospital was constructed with the cost of ₹6.16 crore on five-kanals. The land was provided by the village panchayat of Dunneke village for free of cost.

As per the detailed project report, ₹6.16 crore were sanctioned for the construction of the hospital and another grant of ₹3 crore was released to purchase furniture and other material. As per report, the hospital will have outdoor patient department, panchkarma centre, yoga room, lab, dispensary, audiometry room, canteen, pantry, meeting hall, administrative office, recovery room etc.