CAG lists discrepancies in IGMCRI

A CAG report has found lapses in the administration of the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March 2016 said the reason for shortfall in bed occupancy was attributed to the inadequate infrastructure and health care facilities in the institute.
This resulted in low occupancy ranging between 56 and 72 per cent in 2011-2016 against the norms of 80 per cent stipulated by Medical Council of Indiaconsequent upon which the patients were referred to the Government general hospital for undergoing treatment.
It said to ensure that the shortfall in bed strength and bed occupancy did not impact the yearly renewal inspection by the MCI, the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Medical College Society managing the IGMCRI and Hospital had passed a resolution with the approval of its governing body "to borrow beds along with personnel from the General hospital Puducherry to make good the shortfall in fulfilling the MCI criteria."

The report observed that the action of the society in passing the resolution for getting beds from the GH amounted to misleading the MCI by misrepresenting the actual facts about availability of the requisite number of beds whereas there was always shortage of beds in the IGMCRI since 2011.
Besides, GH authorities helped in the "fraudulent" action of the society by giving beds to it. Thus the authorities of society had "connived with the GH by misrepresenting the real facts to hoodwink MCI" which continued granting renewals to IGMCRI year after year from 2011 to 2016, the report said.

The report said as against the prescribed number of 348 essential drugs for a tertiary care hospital only 145 drugs were purchased of which on an average 100 drugs were found out of stock.

The report also said as of March 2016, the government invested Rs 1,018.52 crore in government companies and cooperative institutions.
Though the average rate of interest on the Union Territory government's borrowings was 7.5 per cent, the average rate of return on investments was around 0.3 per cent during 2011-2016.
The outstanding fiscal liabilities increased from Rs 5,441 crore in 2011-2012 to Rs 7,754 crore in 2015-2016. The fiscal liabilities represented about 29 per cent of the Gross State Domestic product in 2015-2016, it said.
The maturity profile of the territorial government's public debt indicates that nearly 62.65 per cent of the total public debt is repayable within next seven years which shows that the Union Territory government is leading towards debt trap, the report, tabled by chief minister V Narayanasamy in the assembly yesterday, said.