Mangaluru: Wenlock hospital is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. A report in the Nirmiti Kendra suggests that, though over Rs; 19 lakhs was released as the final settlement of a contract to construct cold storage rooms at Wenlock in 2014, no storage room has been constructed till date in the hospital.
According to the report (a copy of which is available with Newskarnataka.com), Rs. 10,00,000 was released as advance payment on March 10, 2013 by way of cheque (No. 547767), and as a final payment, a sum of Rs. 9,08,200 was handed over to erect cold storage rooms on September 27, 2014. The cheque number of the final settlement mentioned in the report is 623757. Overall, a sum of Rs, 19,08,200 was released.
However in reality, no cold storage rooms were constructed, even as the allegations of the hospital authorities cramming 22 bodies in a space allotted only for 12, marred the hospital’s reputation recently.
The cost of the storage rooms was estimated at Rs.20,30,000 by the Nirmiti Kendra. The superintendent of Wenlock hospital, Dr Rajeshwari Devi H R brushing these facts aside claimed that the released fund was diverted to build a new mortuary by the executive committee of the Raksha Samiti.
The mortuary, according to Rajeshwari Devi was damaged earlier due to short circuit. It is observed that there have been no reports in recent times of the mortuary catching fire but a CT scan room was damaged by a short circuit on January 16, 2015. The executive committee of the Raksha Samiti decided to halt the cold storage project, and instead diverted the fund to erect a new mortuary in the month of October 2013, she clarified.
Her statement does not match the facts as stated in the report of the Nirmithi Kendra available with Newskarntaka.com, where the final bill settlement specifically to set up cold storage rooms was done on September 27, 2014.
The Project Director of Nirmiti Kendra (quasi government body) Rajendra Kalbavi confirmed the revised usage of funds saying, that they received notice from Wenlock to divert funds to construct the mortuary. When quizzed on the report that clearly indicates the bill was cleared for the purpose of cold storage rooms, Kalbavi said he was not aware of the report.
There is also a contradiction in the amount spent on the mortuary. The superintendent of the hospital said that, Rs.20,30,000 was spent to carve out the new mortuary. On the contrary, the Nirmiti Kendra officials say that the mortuary was completed at the cost of Rs.20,40,000.
Newskarnataka tried to contact U. T. Khader, the state’s health minister, for his views on the irregularities, but he was unreachable.
The deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim said, that it would not be appropriate to comment and it would be better to quiz officials from the Nirmiti Kendra and Wenlock over the contradictory facts. On the other hand, an RTI activist Haneef Saheb speaking to Newskarnataka.com demanded Nirmiti Kendra explain where the Rs.19,08,200 had gone as the report clearly mentions that it was not utilized to build the cold storage rooms as envisaged. He said he would file a Public Interest Litigation to ensure that the public gets justice in the matter.
