NEW DELHI: Three IAS officers, two special secretaries and the secretary of the health department, have written to health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accusing the minister of blaming the bureaucracy for failures of the health infrastructure under the AAP government.
The officials said, during the past few months, Bharadwaj has been writing notes to the department and putting them out in public domain via media in a bid to belittle the officials concerned. The officers also accused the minister of holding up files and returning them time and again, without concrete reasons.
In their letter to the health minister, the three senior officers flagged delay in the “ill-planned” construction of 11 greenfield and 13 brownfield hospital projects by over three years causing 100% cost escalation. The letter claimed, despite a total cost of Rs 8,000 crore required for these projects, a meagre Rs 400 crore has been budgeted in FY 2024-25.
The letter also raised issues with non-implementation of the Hospital Information Management System even after eight years of its announcement, alleging that the health minister did not want to implement National Informatics Centre’s e-hospital software, which came free of cost.
The officers also alleged non-preparation of the Essential Drug List since as long as 2016 and making the Central Procurement Agency infructuous. The letter also raised concerns over non-implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, pointing out that Delhi is “tragically” among the three states which has not implemented the model.
A file in this regard has been pending with the ministers since 2018 and is causing major problem in providing healthcare to a huge migratory population, a major chunk of which consists of construction workers, labourers, domestic workers, etc, who do not have ration cards in Delhi and therefore, cannot avail of Delhi government’s schemes, the letter said. Creation of Urban Health and Wellness Centres, District Integrated Public Health Lab and Critical Care Blocks under the Ayushman Bharat health infrastructure mission have also remained stalled despite the Centre releasing Rs 2,406 crore for the same, the letter added.
The officers pointed out that despite higher expenditure and shorter working hours, the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics are not providing preventive care like immunization, pre-natal and post-natal check-ups and various national health programmes. The design of Mohalla clinics revolve around per patient payment basis, which makes it exorbitantly expensive.
Quit shifting blame: Officers
The senior officers, in their letter, said the health minister has been sending notes about the department in bunches everyday; on non-availability of medicines, and equipments, space crunch in hospitals, poor maintenance, lack of cleanliness, etc, while refusing to address the files that lie pending with his office. The officers requested minister Bharadwaj for an early decision on all the issues flagged in the letter, asserting if these were resolved, it would significantly improve the health infrastructure of the national capital