NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s two new multi-speciality hospitals, which are on the pipeline, are expected to be handed over to the health department by the end of this year.
“Both the hospitals in Ambedkar Nagar and Dwarka will be under our administration shortly.
Then, we will begin operation with some services. It will then become functional on regular basis.
By the end of this year, it is expected to be handed over to the health department,” said a Delhi government official.
The hospital in Ambedkar Nagar was approved in 2013 at a cost of Rs 125.9 crore.
While initially it was planned to house 200 beds, an official said that the capacity was increased to 600. The hospital in Dwarka, which was initiated in 2014, has a capacity of 1,500 beds.
The hospital in Burari which was supposed to begin from end of July is likely to take some more time to begin functioning, the official said.
While a senior official informed that the 800-bed multi-speciality hospital “will take a bit of time to open”, he didn’t elaborate on the reasons for the delay in the project.
Originally proposed by the Sheila Dikshit led Congress government in 2013 with 285 beds, the AAP dispensation had increased the capacity to 813 beds in 2015.
According to the official, all the three hospitals are multi-speciality, aimed to cater the residents who either live in far-off areas or find difficult to travel to AIIMS or Safdarjung.
In July, Health minister Satyendar Jain had visited one of the hospitals and announced that the three hospitals will add 3,200 beds by next year.
Promises made
In its manifesto for 2015 assembly elections, the AAP had promised to increase the total bed strength in Delhi to 40,000. Later, it had said that the bed strength would be doubled in first two years.