Set up new Civil Hospital, demolish existing one

Rao Inderjit Singh, union minister of state (independent charge), inspected the old Civil Hospital near Sadar Bazaar on Tuesday.

The member of parliament (MP) representing Gurugram sought a status report on the construction of a proposed new building, which will replace the old and dilapidated structure.

Singh also directed the district administration and health department to speed up shifting existing MRI and CT scan facilities to the Sector 10 Civil Hospital, so that demolition of the existing structure can begin at the earliest.

“It is imperative that existing facilities are shifted earliest to the civil hospital so that demolition can start,” he said.

The MP said that he wanted the new hospital to be one of the best in north India. The minister also said that speedy completion of the facility is necessary as a large population is dependent on government hospitals for healthcare.

Singh was in Gurugram on Tuesday to attend the Gareeb Kalyan Sammelan at Apparel House in Sector 44. He later decided to conduct an inspection of the Civil Hospital project l.

The construction of a new building for the Civil Hospital was approved in 2017, but delay in acquisition of additional land hindered the project. In January 2021, the education department was asked to hand over two acres of land from a government school site adjacent to the hospital.

“This project has not progressed for the last five to six years. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people had to depend on private healthcare providers for treatment, which is very expensive. I have been working to ensure that this hospital is constructed soon so that people can get good treatment,” said Singh. He also said that an estimated cost for the project was sent to Chandigarh, but it hasn’t been approved for the past one and half years.

The minister said that the district administration should speed up taking over additional land for the project.

According to Singh, a meeting will be called in June with health department and Public Works Department officials to fix timelines for the demolition of the existing building and construction work for the new.

During the inspection, Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram, informed that permission for shifting the CT scan and MRI machines is likely to be obtained within the next two days. “The building for installing this machinery has already been constructed, but the entire process will take around two months,” Yadav said.

Nishant Yadav, deputy commissioner, Gurugram, and senior health department officials were also present at the inspection. Hindustan Times