Tendering issue delays Rs 210-cr district hospital project in Palghar

Declared a separate district on August 1, 2014, Palghar has a projected population of 30 lakh. However, bureaucratic apathy and red-tapism has deprived it of specialist doctors and a district hospital to this day.

In 2018, under the National Health Mission, the state government constituted a high-level committee and approved Rs 210 crore for the construction of the much-needed tertiary-care district hospital. In 2019, a tender was floated for the same. However, while three contractors were engaged for the project, the file is still stuck in the corridors of the state government for approval.

According to sources, the contractors quoted 20 per cent above the state’s proposed budget for the project, which has been a bone of contention. “Earlier, the state was planning to invite fresh tenders but now they are negotiating with the contractors,” said an official from the state public health department.

The officials raised concerns that any further delay to the project would inflate the budget by another Rs 60 crore. “After the pandemic, the price of steel has surged drastically. So the contractors, who have done their own survey, are not willing to take up the contract at the present rate. Already, three years have passed and if we keep waiting, the budget will increase by 20-30 per cent,” the official said.

It is mandatory for all districts to have their own district hospitals like the Sir JJ Hospital in Mumbai. Currently, the Palghar district has a total of three rural hospitals and nine sub-district hospitals. But they don’t have specialists such as gynaecologists, orthopaedics and general surgeons, among others.

Often, the district healthcare facilities are run by inexperienced doctors, who are bonded to be deployed at these units after obtaining their MBBS degrees. However, they lack the skills of specialists and often refer accident patients and even snake bite cases to other districts.

“There is a severe dearth of manpower. At present, there are 13 vacancies in the rural hospital of Palghar taluka. Sometimes, during the monsoon, we get a large number of patients suffering from dengue or malaria and work round the clock. But when the patients’ condition deteriorates, we have to refer them to other districts. That often results in further deterioration of their condition in transit,” said a doctor stationed at a Palghar hospital.

Dr Hemant Borse, deputy director of health service, Maharashtra, who is looking into the matter, did not respond to repeated calls from this correspondent. However, another health official said it would take another three years to set up the hospital. “It’s a humongous process as with the construction of the hospital, we also have to hire the manpower and procure life-saving devices. It is a time consuming affair. Even if the project gets the green light this year, it will be completed only after 2025,” the official said.

As was reported by The Indian Express on September 8, Vasai MLA Hitendra Thakur wrote to state minister Dr Tanaji Sawant, seeking a 200-bed hospital with state-of-the-art facilities along the highway in the aftermath of the road accident that killed businessman Cyrus Mistry.

The highway passes through a number of tribal talukas lacking in proper healthcare facilities.

“The district should have a district hospital which has such a huge floating population. The patients in need are being forced to travel to Nashik and even Gujarat for treatment. Also, there is a need for a 200-bed hospital along the highway to address the accident cases where golden-hour treatment is essential,” he said.