Budget in excess of Rs seven crore allotted for purchase of Ayurvedic medicines in hospitals under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has lapsed as it was not utilised during the last financial year.
This came to light during a meeting of the Standing Committee here today after Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goel presented the data obtained from the Ayush department.
"A budget of Rs 7.40 crore was allotted for purchase of Ayurvedic medicines but only Rs 23.79 lakhs were spent in the year 2012-13. Now the remaining Rs 7,16,21,000 has lapsed," Goel said.
Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal admitted the lapse and blamed inaction by the department for the same.
"Of course the officials were negligent and that is why such a thing was allowed to happen. The Commissioner himself has assured the members that such a thing would not happen again," he added.
A similar situation was also seen in the Unani and Homeopathic clinics where a sum of Rs one crore and Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned respectively to be spent on medicines during 2012-13.
According to the details presented before the Committee, not a single rupee was spent during the entire year.
Besides, the Ayush department informed that there is a shortage of 21 doctors in Ayurvedic medicine field in its 115 hospitals. As far as Unani medicine treatment is concerned, seven out of 17 clinics do not have doctors.
In the Homeopathic field, only 14 doctors are working against 25 sanctioned posts. "We talk about opening a medical college under the corporation when we cannot even run the hospitals and clinics under our jurisdiction," said Goel.
The issue of non-availability of properly qualified staff at the Central Establishment Department (CED) also came up for discussion during today's meeting where the opposition Congress alleged that after the retirement of the previous director (printing and stationary), no technically qualified person had been appointed to the post.
"As a result, no stock of papers was obtained last year which is causing shortage of birth and death certificates, OPD cards in hospitals among other things which is forcing departments to procure them locally," read a submission by the party to Committee chairman.
A demand to appoint a technically qualified person to the post was also made during the meeting.
