3 years on, hospital in Malad still to open

This was a project planned to solve the medical woes of people staying in the western suburbs.

This was a project planned to solve the medical woes of people staying in the western suburbs.

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A 60-bed hospital located in Malwani, Malad, which was approved in 2003 and ready by March 2008, is lying unused. The reason — the government is not able to provide staff to run the hospital.

This has also caused underutilisation of funds of Rs 4.09 crore which was spent by the public works department (PWD) to construct the hospital, the 2010 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reveals.

Further scrutiny revealed that the director of health services (DHS) put a request for 82 staff members a month before the hospital was completed in February 2008. Furniture for the hospital, machinery, medical equipment, linen, computers and printers worth Rs15.51 lakh were bought in August 2009.

The civic body issued an occupation certificate in July 2009 and asked the DHS to take over, which it did not.

The joint director of health services told the CAG in March 2010 that possession of the building was not taken due to non-sanction of posts by the government. “The argument was not acceptable as the hospital, which was constructed with the aim of enhancing the existing facilities in the area, could not achieve the objective and the fact remains that an investment of Rs4.09 crore is lying unused for want of support staff,” the report said.