NEW DELHI: Ahead of the municipal corporation (MCD) elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has expedited the construction work and promotion of seven upcoming hospitals. According to department officials, Health Minister Satyendra Jain had ordered the construction work in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, quick approvals were given for the construction. Work on these has started recently
Of these seven facilities, three are extensions of existing hospitals — Raghuveer Nagar, Chachu Nehru and GTB Hospital. The other four hospitals are new, being set up in Shalimar Bagh, Kirari, Sarita Vihar and Sultanpuri which will provide space for almost 6,834 new beds. These hospitals are being built under the latest technology where precast buildings have been used. “The health minister wanted to try this method for a long time and with Covid-19 it became easier to get the paperwork done,” said the official.
A 362-bed trauma centre will be built at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Rs 71 crore has been invested with state-of-the-art construction technology for the same, said an official. The official added that a new block at Guru Gobind Singh Govt Hospital is also in the final stage of completion. The hospital will have 472 beds more than the existing capacity.
Another hospital in Madipur is under construction which will be provided with 690 beds, costing a total of Rs 320 crore. Construction work in Jwalapuri Hospital continues which will provide also 690 beds. The AAP government has a major part in the decision to expedite and promote the construction of hospitals. The party’s agenda is to get votes in the upcoming MCD elections which were recently deferred by the State Election Commission (SEC) after it received a communication from the Central government.
The SEC got a communication from the Centre after which it decided to postpone the announcement for the next 7 days. The government has distributed Rs 5,000 each as grant amount to 83,183 construction workers.They have completed their registration process and Rs 41.9 crore was disbursed for them.