Skip to main content

Ahmedabad’s public hospital budget for 2023-24 provides no information or accountability

Rupa Chinai, Dr. Nishith Shah, Jay Sheth and Brijesh Chinai, independent members, Chinai Maternity and Sarabhai General Hospitals, Board of Management, Ahmedabad, comment on hospital Budget for 2023-2024:
***
The Budget for 2023-2024 raises some vital questions about utilization of the huge funds being allocated and the total lack of transparency or accountability on how money is being spent by the VS Board of Management.
Last year’s Budget of Rs.179 crores for 2022-2023 has been increased in the current year to Rs.183 crores. Yet this year’s Budget Report is devoid of any information on the patients who benefitted from these extraordinarily huge allocations.
Take the instance of Chinai Maternity Hospital (Page 5), where between 1.4.21 to 31.4.22 the Budget Report reveals that there was not a single patient of emergency delivery done in the Gynecology Department and not a single case of emergency surgery done in the Paediatrics Department. How is that possible? Medicines allocated for patients is a mere Rs.3 crores 65 lakhs — a figure that is absurdly low given the massive allocations. There are no figures provided for surgeries performed by Orthopedic and several other Departments. This is an extraordinary way to present a Budget, where no information is provided on how public money was utilised and what is the justification for even higher allocations for the forthcoming year!
We notice (Pg. 9) that Rs. 5 lakhs is being earmarked for “Property Tax”. We would like to ask to whom is this property tax being paid and for which properties?
There are several other issues that we took up with the Board in our letter dated 17th January, 2023, in response to the outsourced Audit Report, 2022. These pertain to:
  • Writing off Rs.49 crores by the VS Board without providing any explanation or justification.
  • The lack of any action against those responsible for the Rs.8 crore Provident Fund and Duplicate Receipt Book Scams.
  • Utilization of Rs.16,070,759 for Ayurvedic treatment and medicines poor patients, when as far as we know, no such department exists in VSH.
We have repeatedly stressed since years, that there is an urgent need to ensure that AMC Auditors be required to take final responsibility for auditing of VSH funds that are currently being outsourced to private agencies.
We note with concern that the VS Board has not acknowledged our letter of 17th January, 2023 or cared to reply to our questions.
The hospital administration is requested to provide us complete details of outdoor and indoor patients treated at Chinai Maternity and Sarabhai Hospitals during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 December.

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor

TRENDING

Planning failures? Mysuru’s traditional water networks decline as city expands

By Prajna Kumaraswamy, Mansee Bal Bhargava   The tropical land–water-scape of India shapes every settlement through lakes, ponds, wetlands, and rivers. Mysuru (Mysore) is a city profoundly shaped by both natural and humanly constructed water systems. For generations, it has carried a collective identity tied to the seasonal rhythms of the monsoon, the life-giving presence of the Cauvery and Kabini rivers , and the intricate network of lakes and ponds that dot the cityscape. Water transcends being merely a resource; it is part of collective memory, embedded in place names, agricultural heritage, and the very land beneath our feet. In an era of rapid urbanization and climate-induced land–water transformations, understanding this profound relationship with the land–water-scape is strategic for sustainability, resilience, and even survival.
1 comment
»

Why was this BJP leader forced to call off marriage of his daughter with Muslim boy?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  A marriage of two individuals belonging to different faiths was ultimately postponed as the 'champions' of the social morality dominated the discourse and threatened the father of the girl who happened to be the chairman of Pauri city municipality. Yashpal Benam, a BJP leader, posted the invitation of his daughter's wedding with a Muslim boy from Uttar Pradesh. Both the boy and the girl became friend during their B Tech course and were in relationship. There were reports that they already got married in the court but we don't know the reality. Perhaps the family of the girl wanted to send a message of 'acceptability' and 'appreciation' of such a marriage by the society. Invitations were sent to all but soon after it went wide spread on the social media, the champion of Hindu dharma jumped into the fray and started threatening the father. There were hundreds of calls asking the father hundreds of questions about the marriage. What...
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»