Mr Health Minister, Make this House Call

During his tenure, Thakur had repeatedly asked the state government to hand over the PMCH and IGIMS to the Centre. Unfortunately, Thakur’s good intentions couldn’t surmount the biggest hurdle he could face in Bihar: an uneasy relationship with the Laloo-Rabri regime. His letters and pleas in this regard were largely ignored. The state government dilly-dallied and ultimately only conceded on handing over the IGIMS.

But just as negotiations were starting five months ago, Thakur was dropped from the Cabinet and Sinha took over. Hopes were renewed as Sinha enjoyed a good rapport with Laloo Prasad Yadav. On his first trip to Patna, Sinha came to the IGIMS and promised that the Centre would take over the institute and set up Jai Prabha Hospital.

But nothing has moved still. ‘‘He is new and we have held two or three meetings, but nothing has happened yet,’’ says Bihar Health Minister Shakeel Ahmed.

Others are more harsh. Local doctors question Sinha’s commitment, pointing out that he always seemed to be busy. Says Medical Council of India member Dr Ajay Kumar: ‘‘He brought two junior Health Department officers and as a result no decision was taken. He has no time. He visited Patna twice but refused to give appointments to doctors. The IGIMS takeover is an eyewash. He’s saying a lot of things but doing nothing.’’

Projects that were started before Sinha took over have also not moved. One of them includes setting up a trauma centre in the PMCH. In fact, the medical college hospital is even worse off than the IGIMS as the Central funds come late and the state government shows no interest. Things haven’t improved despite the Patna High Court’s intervention. Recently, a judge of the court had personally gone to inspect the PMCH.

Among other things, he must have found crumbling infrastructure due to paucity as well as late release of funds by the Centre as well as crucial posts lying vacant. For the past couple of years, sweepers have been filling in as Operation Theatre assistants as all the 27 posts for the latter are lying vacant. Besides, 125 posts of ward attendants are vacant, and the 10 pharmacist posts have no one.

The story is the same in other departments. At the Orthopedics Department, 14 posts are lying vacant. On the contrary, on an average 200 patients are fighting for space in the 86-bed department. So the majority just sleep on the floor.

‘‘Lack of funds is the main problem. The Centre should give more funds,’’ says Ahmed. But the state government’s hands aren’t exactly clean. This year’s crisis, for example, was triggered as the state refused to release any funds to the PMCH for 2001 during the current financial year.

The IGIMS is also suffering from late release of funds. A senior official of the Medical Education Department says the government could not release any funds during 2001-2002 due to resource constraints. As a result, the IGIMS has stopped several development works, including giving finishing touches to a 150-bed ward and a trauma centre.