Delhi: North MCD to auction 3 acres of Rajan Babu hospital for pvt facilities

The site is proposed to be used for setting up three private hospitals, said a senior corporation official. According to the project report prepared by the engineering department, the three acre land abutting the Ring Road has been earmarked in consultation with the hospital director for auctioning

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation is planning to auction three acres of land within the Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis (RBIPMT) complex -- one of the biggest tuberculosis hospitals in Asia -- near GTB Nagar to generate revenue. The site is proposed to be used for setting up three private hospitals, said a senior corporation official.

The Layout Scrutiny Committee of the North MCD approved the change in layout plan of the Rajan Babu hospital complex on August 24, 2021, and forwarded the proposal to the standing committee. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT Archive)

According to the project report prepared by the engineering department, the three acre land abutting the Ring Road has been earmarked in consultation with the hospital director for auctioning.

“RBIPMT has a huge complex and it has a scope for development of private hospitals on the vacant land. The health department has provided in-principal agreement. A land measuring three acres near the laundry block and staff tenements of RBIPMT has been identified. It was decided that three plots of one acre each be carved out for three hospitals for e-auction on lease basis,” said a communication dated September 24, 2021, from the municipal commissioner to the standing committee. The land is currently covered by bushes and trees.

The standing committee chairman Jogi Ram Jain said that the matter was postponed in the last committee meeting and a further study is required.

North MCD had faced a severe fund crunch, with the civic body being unable to even provide salaries of its staff for months and the Delhi high court even pulling it up over the issue on multiple occasions. The doctors and nurses from various municipal hospitals have organised strikes due to non-payment of salaries even during the pandemic.

The Layout Scrutiny Committee (LoSC) of the civic body approved the change in layout plan of the complex on August 24, 2021, and forwarded the proposal to the standing committee.

“Three plots measuring 4,125 sqm, 4,125 sqm and 4,284.6 sqm have been carved out for hospitals near laundry block. After discussion, it was recommended to place the case before the standing committee for approval of three hospitals at municipal land,” said the LOSC report.

Officials from the RBIPMT administration did not respond to requests seeking a comment.

A senior north corporation official said that RBIPMT and Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Disease hospital are both located in the same complex near GTB Nagar.

“In 2016, these two hospitals were merged for administrative purposes. As per the land records, the area under Rajan Babu hospital is 63.3 acres while MVID hospital is spread over 26.4 acres. Both these hospitals were set up in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of the coronation of King George. The location of these hospitals is very prime and the complex is well connected by Ring Road and Delhi Metro. The redevelopment of the area for revenue generation was decided in a meeting chaired by the municipal commissioner,” the official said.

Meanwhile, during the last standing committee meeting, opposition AAP councillors had raised the issue of poor condition of roof and structures in Rajan Babu hospital, pointing out that it may lead to an accident. The committee has asked the hospital administration department to submit a report on the matter.

Jain said that he will also visit the site to ascertain the condition of the structure and whether the staff/patients need to be shifted.

The opposition AAP has been demanding hand over of six major hospitals run by North MCD to the Centre or state government. A proposal to this effect has been moved twice by the municipal commissioners but it was turned down on both occasions by the deliberative wing of the civic body.