MADURAI
Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department Secretary J. Radhakrishnan on Sunday expressed his dissatisfaction over the slow progress in the construction of the super-speciality block of Government Rajaji Hospital here.
Inspecting the work at the site on Panagal Road here, he pulled up the contractor in charge of the construction for the inordinate delay in completing the work, which has been in progress for nearly five years.
The block, with a capacity of around 320 beds, is constructed with Central government funding through Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) and is intended to substantially improve the infrastructure for specialities like neurology, nephrology, plastic surgery and medical gastroenterology.
Later speaking to the media, Dr. Radhakrishnan said that there were no issues in sanctioning funds for the project and attributed the delay primarily to the private contractor, who had taken up the construction work.
He said that though the contract was terminated earlier for the slow progress made in the work, the contractor subsequently obtained relief from a court on the assurance of swift completion of the work.
Stating that around 63% of the work had been completed so far, he said that the contractor had assured to complete the work by December-end.
It has to be noted that the construction also included an overbridge connecting the super-speciality block and the trauma care centre of the GRH located on the opposite side of Panagal Road.
CEmONC building
Dr. Radhakrishnan also inspected the 850-bedded Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) building at the GRH, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on June 30, but is yet to become functional.
Urging the officials to expedite the work, he said that the centre would become partially functional from Monday and fully functional in a week.