There are delays in building six AIIMS-like hospitals. There are allegations that funds meant for their construction have been diverted. By MANISH PANDEY & D. MOHANTY
Just four years back, Sijua was like any other village in Orrisa.
Situated on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar, around 15 kms from the state capital on the National Highway No. 5, it seemed like an abode for a few people. However, in 2008, Sijua seems to be preparing itself for tomorrow’s hustle and bustle. One can judge the signs of development by the growing number of concrete structures each day.
It was on July 15, 2003, when the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the proposed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose super-specialty hospital there. The hospital was one of the six AIIMS-like healthcare institutes to be set up across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), announced by Vajpayee in the same year.
But things are still moving slowly. Four years after the announcement, the only thing one could see of the hospital in Sijua was the big blue board (displaying the project name) surrounded by a completed boundary wall. So, what about the rest of the hospital? When is real work going to begin? Will the project be completed on time? These are some of the questions that everyone in Sijua is asking.
According to officials, the progress is in accordance with the initial plan. “Over 100 acres has been provided by the state government,” says one of them. However, sources contend that the government is yet to acquire 1.42 acres of private land for the construction of the proposed 200-foot road that will connect the proposed AIIMS to the National Highway No. 5. Out of the nine landowners from whom the land is to be acquired, only five have agreed to the land exchange proposal. Apart from this, another 2.25 acres belonging to the State Police Academy in Patrapada village needs to be acquired.
The state officials blame the union health ministry. “The state government has handed over 100 acres of land to the concerned ministry for construction of the elite institution. State PWD and PHD departments have started infrastructure work. The construction of an alternative road to Sijua has begun. Now it’s the ministry’s turn to start the construction of the institution’s building,” says N.C. Jena, the district collector of Khurdha who’s also in charge of the project.
The story is the same in the case of other AIIMS-like hospitals. The other five, one each at Patna (Bihar), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) seem to be witnessing the same fate. No doubt the project is running behind schedule, and the officials are trying hard to stick to the original plan. There are many problems that confront the building of these hospitals. For instance, in 2004, after the announcement of the scheme, it was decided to have one project consultant for all the six institutions to prepare detail project reports (DPRs) simultaneously. But out of the short-listed bidders, only two participated in the project consultant bid and both could not qualify on technical grounds. This resulted in delays. Sources blame the stringent government rules and the low price offered as the reasons for the disqualification. However, Hindustan Latex Ltd. (HLL) was finally appointed as a consultant for the first phase of the project.
Later, the government decided to have a separate bidding process for the architectural design and construction of the institutions. The housing component was to be built through separate Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) developers on a turnkey basis. This added to the delays. The Expression of Interest (EOI) for providing EPC services and EOI for the selection of design was issued only in February 2007. Although the process of selection was to be completed by March 2007, this was delayed by a further nine months due to bureaucratic and other bottlenecks. As of now, the DPR consultants have been selected for the six sites and they have to submit their reports by May-June, 2008. The contract for the construction of the housing complexes in five sites has been awarded to various parties. “Work on the hospital medical college would be completed by 2010-11,” union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said at the recent social editor’s conference in New Delhi. The minister added that the construction of houses and hostels would be completed by 2009.
There are problems related to funds for the proposed hospitals. The NDA government was unable to allocate the money for the project. In FY 2005-06 and FY 2006-07, when the UPA government was in power, the Budgets allocated Rs.15 crore and Rs.75 crore, respectively. But these were diverted for other schemes. The 2007-08 Budget kept a much-higher Rs.150 crore, but sources say that this too is being diverted. So, while Sijua may look at the future with expectation, its AIIMS may just be delayed further. And its people will have to wait for quality healthcare.
Just four years back, Sijua was like any other village in Orrisa.
Situated on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar, around 15 kms from the state capital on the National Highway No. 5, it seemed like an abode for a few people. However, in 2008, Sijua seems to be preparing itself for tomorrow’s hustle and bustle. One can judge the signs of development by the growing number of concrete structures each day.It was on July 15, 2003, when the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the proposed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose super-specialty hospital there. The hospital was one of the six AIIMS-like healthcare institutes to be set up across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), announced by Vajpayee in the same year.
But things are still moving slowly. Four years after the announcement, the only thing one could see of the hospital in Sijua was the big blue board (displaying the project name) surrounded by a completed boundary wall. So, what about the rest of the hospital? When is real work going to begin? Will the project be completed on time? These are some of the questions that everyone in Sijua is asking.
According to officials, the progress is in accordance with the initial plan. “Over 100 acres has been provided by the state government,” says one of them. However, sources contend that the government is yet to acquire 1.42 acres of private land for the construction of the proposed 200-foot road that will connect the proposed AIIMS to the National Highway No. 5. Out of the nine landowners from whom the land is to be acquired, only five have agreed to the land exchange proposal. Apart from this, another 2.25 acres belonging to the State Police Academy in Patrapada village needs to be acquired.
The state officials blame the union health ministry. “The state government has handed over 100 acres of land to the concerned ministry for construction of the elite institution. State PWD and PHD departments have started infrastructure work. The construction of an alternative road to Sijua has begun. Now it’s the ministry’s turn to start the construction of the institution’s building,” says N.C. Jena, the district collector of Khurdha who’s also in charge of the project.
The story is the same in the case of other AIIMS-like hospitals. The other five, one each at Patna (Bihar), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) seem to be witnessing the same fate. No doubt the project is running behind schedule, and the officials are trying hard to stick to the original plan. There are many problems that confront the building of these hospitals. For instance, in 2004, after the announcement of the scheme, it was decided to have one project consultant for all the six institutions to prepare detail project reports (DPRs) simultaneously. But out of the short-listed bidders, only two participated in the project consultant bid and both could not qualify on technical grounds. This resulted in delays. Sources blame the stringent government rules and the low price offered as the reasons for the disqualification. However, Hindustan Latex Ltd. (HLL) was finally appointed as a consultant for the first phase of the project.
Later, the government decided to have a separate bidding process for the architectural design and construction of the institutions. The housing component was to be built through separate Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) developers on a turnkey basis. This added to the delays. The Expression of Interest (EOI) for providing EPC services and EOI for the selection of design was issued only in February 2007. Although the process of selection was to be completed by March 2007, this was delayed by a further nine months due to bureaucratic and other bottlenecks. As of now, the DPR consultants have been selected for the six sites and they have to submit their reports by May-June, 2008. The contract for the construction of the housing complexes in five sites has been awarded to various parties. “Work on the hospital medical college would be completed by 2010-11,” union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said at the recent social editor’s conference in New Delhi. The minister added that the construction of houses and hostels would be completed by 2009.
There are problems related to funds for the proposed hospitals. The NDA government was unable to allocate the money for the project. In FY 2005-06 and FY 2006-07, when the UPA government was in power, the Budgets allocated Rs.15 crore and Rs.75 crore, respectively. But these were diverted for other schemes. The 2007-08 Budget kept a much-higher Rs.150 crore, but sources say that this too is being diverted. So, while Sijua may look at the future with expectation, its AIIMS may just be delayed further. And its people will have to wait for quality healthcare.
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