The delay in budget from the state government has pushed the biggest hospital of the state, Doon hospital on the brink of financial bankruptcy. The hospital owes about Rs 2 Crores to the private vendors, drug suppliers and Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCl).
The annual budget of the hospital is Rs 11.324 Crore and the hospital administration used to receive this budget at the beginning of the financial year. This year however the finance department decided to provide the budget on quarterly basis triggering the problem. The hospital received the first quarterly installment of the budget in the month of June this year. The hospital administration is yet to receive the second installment and this delay is causing problems to the hospital to carry its routine activities. The sources revealed that the hospital owes about Rs 1 Crore to the drug suppliers who provide the medicines of local Purchase (lP). Similarly the vendor who supplies the cooked food to the in house patients is demanding Rs 25 lakh the hospital owes to him. The hospital has also not paid the electricity bill for last four months which has mounted to Rs 15 lakh. Recently the petrol pump owner who supplies fuel to the vehicles of the hospital had threatened to stop the supplies if his dues are not paid. The food supply vendor too had sent a notice mentioning his inability to provide the cooked food if his payment is stopped further. However the cause of relief is that despite constant threatening none of the vendors have actually stopped the services yet.
The Doon hospital has to pay the salaries of the contractual heath, sanitation and paramedic staffs also. There are about 70 contractual sanitation employees and 19 contractual security personnel the salaries of which the hospital administration pays. The expense in salaries of the contractual staff is about RS 14 lakh per month. One of a senior official of hospital on condition of anonymity said that the issue of delay in budget is consistently being raised before the senior officers of health directorate but nothing has improved. He said that according to the provisions the budget should be sent before the start of the quarter but the hospital is getting it at the end.
The Principal Medical Superintendent (PMS) of Doon hospital Dr R S Aswal said that the hospital receives the budget on quarterly basis and all payments would be made as soon as the budget of this quarter is received.