Govt has fixed Rs 26 per sq m for mechanised cleaning, while RTI reply states that it is Rs 36 per sq m; the authority states that no office space has been provided to cleaning company BVG, our picture below speaks for itself
The Civil Hospital administration has perfected the art of dodging questions and providing wrong information under RTI when it concerns mechanised cleaning on the campus. The mechanised cleaning project worth lakhs has been granted to Bharat Vikas Group India Limited.
Two more falsehoods perpetrated by the hospital authority has come to light after Mirror sought information on particulars about the deal with BVG for mechanised cleaning under the Right to Information Act.
Mirror had reported on October 22, ‘Civil Hospital gives wrong info under RTI’, about the hospital having dismantled one X-ray machine following adverse reports by AERB and CAG, yet in its RTI reply, it denied being pulled up for using old and unsafe devices.
Cost of cleaning
In an RTI application filed on August 25 to the hospital’s information officer, we posed certain questions: What is the rate fixed for mechanised cleaning? How much area will it cover? Are the loo, bathroom and walls of the wards been included in the carpet area? Who will pay for the electricity? If any office has been allotted to the company and if any rent has been fixed? If yes, give the details. If not, what steps have been taken to recover it?
According to the hospital authority’s reply on September 12, “The carpet area allotted for cleaning is 58,400.85 square metre and the rate fixed is Rs 36 per sq metre. Roads have not been included in the mechanised cleaning.”
This is in clear violation of the order issued by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research for mechanised cleaning on June 22. The DMER has fixed Rs 26 per square metre for mechanised cleaning at civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Surat.
Only an independent investigation can bring out the truth: if the hospital has paid an additional Rs 10 per square metre, amounting to Rs 5.84 lakh on the total carpet area, to the contractor or the amount has been siphoned off by vested interests.
When we asked Civil Medical Superintendent Dr M M Prabhakar why there was a difference of Rs 10 per square metre between the government order and the figure provided by Civil in the RTI reply, Dr Prabhakar said, “If this information is provided to you then it is false. It is possible that it is a printing mistake. I will have to check.”
No office provided
Regarding allotment of office space to BVG, the RTI reply states, “At present no order has been passed to allot an office to Messrs BVG India Ltd.”
A visit to Civil Hospital revealed that BVG personnel carry out their activities from a huge room allotted to them on the third floor of D9 block of main building. A manager who has been provided with a phone and desk space along with his administrative staff sit in the room surrounded by cleaning equipment.
Dr Prabhakar’s statement also nails the falsehood in the RTI reply. When we asked the Civil chief if office space has been provided to BVG, he said, “We’ve provided space to store the company’s equipment. But no rent has been taken. It is included in the contract.”
When asked, why was false information provided under RTI, Dr Prabhakar said, “If you want a reply, then you file another RTI!”
How BVG came into the picture
Mirror had reported on January 26, ‘Civil’s Rs 1 cr clean-up act’ about Maharashtra-based Bharat Vikas Group being roped in by the hospital to carry out mechanised cleaning on its premises from February 1. The spending on cleanliness was hiked from Rs 14 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
Subsequently, five government hospitals — Sir T General Hospital (Bhavnagar), GGS Hospital (Jamnagar), Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Civil Hospital (Rajkot), New Civil Hospital (Surat) and SSG Hospital (Vadodara) had decided to go for the expensive clean–up act for an annual expenditure of a whopping Rs 28 crore. from the same date.
Following this report in Mirror, ‘Five more govt hospitals go for costly clean-up’ on January 28, the costly cleaning pact was stayed. An investigation into the irregularities was ordered by Health Secretary Rajesh Kishore, after which the carpet area and the rate per square metre was revised.
Source Ahmedabad Mirror
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