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CAG slams Maha government for poor state of public healthcare system

Dec 22, 2024 07:10 AM IST

CAG criticizes Maharashtra's health services, citing shortages of doctors and medicines, unutilized funds, and inadequate infrastructure in its audit report.

NAGPUR: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has lambasted the state government in its audit of the public health infrastructure and management of health services in Maharashtra. Tabled in the state legislature on Saturday, the report draws attention to the government’s several failures, including the paucity of doctors and paramedical manpower and the inadequate supply of medicines. It also speaks of the need to enact the Clinical Establishment Act.

CAG slams Maha government for poor state of public healthcare system
CAG slams Maha government for poor state of public healthcare system

The CAG found a dire shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff (27%, 35% and 31% respectively) in the facilities governed by the public health and medical education department. The report says the public health infrastructure is overburdened due to a shortage of healthcare institutions, as a result of which the latter cater to a population in excess of the norms laid down in Indian Public Health Standards. “The government must ensure that a comprehensive plan to identify the gaps in infrastructure is prepared considering the projected population, and implemented in a time-bound manner so that adequate Health Care Institutes are available as per Indian Public Health Standards,” it states.

The report slams the government for not providing a patient-centric diet in 33 test-checked sub-district and rural hospitals. It also states that the government should ensure that healthcare institutions comply with electric and structural audit requirements in a time-bound manner. “The failure of the Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited to place a supply order resulted in funds to the tune of 2,052.28 crore lying unutilised with it,” says the report. “The audit noticed that 71 per cent of the items demanded by Health Care Institutions were not supplied by the Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited from 2017-18 to 2021-22.”

The CAG has also slammed the government for its miniscule expenditure on the health sector, which accounted for 4.91% of the budget in 2021-22 from 4.09% in 2016-17. It recommends that the government take the necessary steps to increase the budgetary allocation in line with the national health policy.

The CAG report also points out that the state government failed to utilise central government funding under the National Urban and Rural Health Mission from 2016-17 to 2021-22. “The percentage of unutilised funds was 76% in 2016-17 and 18% in 2021-22. The state should ensure that the NHM funds are properly utilised,” it states.

The CAG report has also recommended the implementation of the Clinical Establishment Act in Maharashtra for the proper registration and adequate monitoring of clinical establishments in order to ensure a minimum standard of services to the public. “Nursing homes and healthcare facilities in the state are regulated under the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act which has limited scope,” the report says. “It does not cover dispensaries, clinics, sanatoriums and diagnostic centres even as the local supervising authorities do not conduct periodic inspections of nursing homes.”

Apart from directing the government to fill the vacant posts in the Food and Drug Administration for effective monitoring of chemists and medical facilities, the CAG report also recommends strict regulation of bio-medical waste management in healthcare institutions.

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