Crisis in health system

 It was a piece of good news or say, achievement which the government wanted to milk when the newly constructed pre-fabricated two-storeyed Acute Care Facility (ACF) was formally inaugurated on November 12. The construction of the pre-fabricated hospital block took some five months, whereas the government had in June this year, announced that the work would be completed within three months (September). The Rs.30 crore double- storeyed ACF was renamed as Acute Care Hospital Block (ACHB). The story unfolded during the height of the second pandemic wave when the project was made known. It was probably to add some positivity to the negative image earned during the first wave when hundreds of crore rupees were spent on emergency basis to fight the covid pandemic. There were at least three Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed against the Department of Health & Family Welfare over alleged gross malpractices, irregularities and corrupt practices in award of contract and supply works. Anyway, the court will take the call when it delivers is judgment. The government tried to win brownie points at the inauguration by maintaining that the critics and their ilk made unwarranted allegations when the work was being done. It may be recalled that the NPF had raised serious questions about the project by demanding to know what were the due processes followed in awarding the contract to M/s Glocal Healthcare Systems Pvt.Ltd? The NPF also wanted to know under what head was the fund allotted ? Responding to the allegations, what the government said in effect was the firm selected itself. Actually, the government said the firm had presented a power point to sell the project after which it got the nod to go ahead with the work. The money was made available (example of when the government decides to have a political will) by invoking provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005. It appears that the firm became the beneficiary of a “goodwill” from important people in the government. After NPF joined the government to form the controversial “all-party government”, the matter was submerged under the plea of political unity. However, the issue was also raised later by the nascent political party- Rising Political Party (RPP). The party claimed that Rs.30 crore for a prefab construction was too much. It claimed that the firm-M/s Glocal Healthcare Systems Pvt Ḷtd.is not a construction firm but a health care provider. According to the website, Glocal Healthcare Systems Pvt. Ltd “is a technology and process-based platform that seeks to make healthcare affordable, accessible and accountable”. The statement also says that Glocal Healthcare’s hospitals have provided treatment to COVID-19 patients in acute care units. The site also stated that Glocal Healthcare has deployed its telemedicine platform to screen suspected COVID-19 patients. Perhaps confirming what the RPP claimed, the site also admitted that Nagaland project was to be the first construction venture of the company. If a firm involved in construction, then it should be registered under CPWD or NPWD otherwise, it would be tantamount to throwing engineering rules to the dust bin. The ACHB has a longevity of 20 years and should prove beneficial in providing better health facilities, which is crucial. However, several questions raised about norms being violated does no credit to the government.