MARGAO
This may come as a shocker to Madgavkars in particular and Shastikars in general and bring to the fore the oft-repeated question whether the South Goa district hospital is on the priority list of the state government.
While the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai and Health Minster during their visit to the hospital in April last had vowed to commission the long-delayed district hospital within a year in April 2018, the contractor is now believed to have told the TCP Minister that the building may be co
mplete only around March-April, 2018. This has thrown up the question whether the hospital can be commissioned as per the deadline set by the two Ministers or whether the duo will now be forced to shift the deadline to August 15 next year.
When The Goan called up the TCP Minister to shed light on the commissioning of the district hospital for South Goa, Sardesai said he expects the formal commissioning of the Rs 300 crore project around Independence Day next year. "The contractor has informed me that civil works on the project will be complete only around March. But, mere completion of the construction of the building itself will not ensure commissioning of the hospital. An hospital project is not like a bridge. There are other aspects, including recruitment of medical and para medical staff. It's not just enough to carry out the recruitment, but to ensure a soft launch of the hospital to make the new staff accustomed to the new environment," Sardesai said.
Sources in the know informed that while the contractor has already spent over Rs 40-odd crore on the hospital building, the government has not cleared the entire money spent on the project.
Both the TCP Minister and the Health Minister have insisted that the government replace and lay a new Arlem-Sirvodem underground sewerage line passing behind the hospital project to stop sewage water inundating the district hospital's basement. "After I forcefully took up the matter with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to lay the underground sewerage line on top most priority, the government has been kind enough in sanctioning the line, but I have been told that there's no provision for the underground line behind the hospital project," he lamented.
"Unless work on laying the underground line starts from the district hospital project, government's move to sanction Rs 80-odd crore for the underground line may not help the early commissioning of the hospital project," the TCP Minister added.
Hospicio doctors, in private, have expressed their concern over the repeated failed deadlines in the commissioning of the prestigious hospital project, during the last seven years. "Hospicio's condition has only gone from bad to worse with the bed space shrinking after the closure of the casualty building. Patients are routinely referred to the Goa medical college and hospital for want of amenities. Even the dead bodies are shunted to the GMC for want of adequate space", remarked a doctor. Sources said the government should immediately constitute a monitoring panel or a task force to coordinate and monitor the progress of work, not only the civil works, but the recruitment of medical and para-medical officers and staff, besides procurement of equipment.
When The Goan called up the TCP Minister to shed light on the commissioning of the district hospital for South Goa, Sardesai said he expects the formal commissioning of the Rs 300 crore project around Independence Day next year. "The contractor has informed me that civil works on the project will be complete only around March. But, mere completion of the construction of the building itself will not ensure commissioning of the hospital. An hospital project is not like a bridge. There are other aspects, including recruitment of medical and para medical staff. It's not just enough to carry out the recruitment, but to ensure a soft launch of the hospital to make the new staff accustomed to the new environment," Sardesai said.
Sources in the know informed that while the contractor has already spent over Rs 40-odd crore on the hospital building, the government has not cleared the entire money spent on the project.
Both the TCP Minister and the Health Minister have insisted that the government replace and lay a new Arlem-Sirvodem underground sewerage line passing behind the hospital project to stop sewage water inundating the district hospital's basement. "After I forcefully took up the matter with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to lay the underground sewerage line on top most priority, the government has been kind enough in sanctioning the line, but I have been told that there's no provision for the underground line behind the hospital project," he lamented.
"Unless work on laying the underground line starts from the district hospital project, government's move to sanction Rs 80-odd crore for the underground line may not help the early commissioning of the hospital project," the TCP Minister added.
Hospicio doctors, in private, have expressed their concern over the repeated failed deadlines in the commissioning of the prestigious hospital project, during the last seven years. "Hospicio's condition has only gone from bad to worse with the bed space shrinking after the closure of the casualty building. Patients are routinely referred to the Goa medical college and hospital for want of amenities. Even the dead bodies are shunted to the GMC for want of adequate space", remarked a doctor. Sources said the government should immediately constitute a monitoring panel or a task force to coordinate and monitor the progress of work, not only the civil works, but the recruitment of medical and para-medical officers and staff, besides procurement of equipment.
