Cost escalates, executing agencies demand more funds
Sanctioned in 2019, work on Udhampur GMC yet to begin
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 16: Though the deadlines fixed by the Government from time to time are over yet work on five Government Medical Colleges is yet to be completed by the executing agencies as several important components were missing in the original Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). Moreover, these projects have seen cost escalation and demand for additional funds have been projected before the Government so as to complete the work in next few months.
In order to provide advance medical facilities to the people and to overcome the paucity of doctors, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, several years back, sanctioned one Government Medical College each for Kathua, Rajouri, Doda, Anantnag and Baramulla and an amount of Rs 189 crore was fixed for raising the infrastructure of each Medical College.
Out of Rs 189 crore, an amount of Rs 139 crore was fixed for civil works and Rs 50 crore for machinery and equipment. As per the Government document available with EXCELSIOR, Government Medical College Doda was sanctioned in January 2018 and its date of completion as per contract agreement was January 2020 and thereafter the deadline was revised and March 2022 timeline was fixed for the project executing agency to complete the work in all respects.
The Government Medical College Kathua was sanctioned in May 2017 and March 2021 deadline was fixed in the contract agreement for raising of infrastructure. Keeping in view delays owing to various reasons, new timeline of October 2021 was fixed by the Health and Medical Education Department. Similarly, Government Medical College Rajouri was to be completed by June 2020 as per contract agreement but later the executing agency was given time till October 2021.
Likewise, timelines fixed in the contract agreement in respect of Government Medical Colleges of Anantnag and Baramulla were revised at the later stage. Finally, in the meetings chaired by the Chief Secretary in the month of December last year it was categorically stated that infrastructure of all these five Medical Colleges will be raised by March 2022.
“Though the deadlines are over yet infrastructure of none of these five Medical Colleges has been completed in all respects”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “no doubt situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic badly impacted work on the projects but missing of major and important components in Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and their incorporation at the later stage also led to the delay”.
They further said, “the work on the Medical Colleges was started just keeping in mind the civil works but during the period of execution the necessity of several mechanical components was felt and accordingly the project executing agencies were asked to make a provision for the same also”, adding “further no attention was paid towards topography of areas like Doda and Rajouri while fixing uniform cost of Rs 189 crore for each Medical College and due to this cost of the projects has also escalated”.
They disclosed that Government Medical College Kathua will be completed in all respects by spending around Rs 5 crore more than the fixed cost while as in respect of Medical Colleges of Doda, Rajouri, Baramulla and Anantnag additional funds to the tune of Rs 20 crore are required.
“Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta has explicitly told the Health and Medical Education Department to get the work on all these five Medical Colleges completed within another few months so as to achieve the objective behind their sanction but the same depends on release of additional cost”, sources said.
Meanwhile, work on Government Medical College Udhampur, which was sanctioned in 2019, is yet to be started by the executing agency mainly because changes in the Detailed Project Report have been recommended to incorporate those components which were missing in the earlier one.
“At present, the concerned authorities are not in a position to specify any time-frame for the start of the work on the project and its completion”, sources said.
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