Madhya Pradesh: Healthcare Facility Built On Shaky Ground

Susner (Madhya Pradesh): Officials plan to hand over a newly-constructed civil hospital building in Susner without addressing serious issues with its construction.

The building, meant to house a 50-bed civil hospital, cost Rs 8.68 crore but allegedly fails to meet required standards. The Police Housing Board, which built the facility, did not include 19 departments in the construction. Sections that were built reportedly don't comply with National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS).

The land itself hasn't even been properly registered with the Health Department and remains under a primary school's name in government records.

Local Congress MLA Bheru Singh Parihar initially raised these concerns in the Assembly and demanded an investigation, but has since gone silent on the matter despite previously promising action. Space constraints present another problem. While the hospital administration had requested and received approval for 10 bighas of land on Dag Road, the building was constructed on less than one bigha. This limited space means the facility cannot adequately serve current patients, let alone accommodate future population growth.

Construction standards appear to have been ignored throughout the project. The general ward, maternity ward, store rooms and medicine distribution areas reportedly failed to meet NQAS parameters.

No administrative officer inspected the construction work after it began in August 2022, allowing these issues to go unchecked. The project, which received approval in March 2022 following the August 2021 announcement to upgrade the Community Health Centre to a 50-bed civil hospital, was supposed to be completed by September 2023.

When contacted, Dr Rajesh Gupta, Chief Medical and District Health Officer of Agar stated, ‘I had inspected the building earlier. I will look into the matter.’