Times
of India: Ahmedabad: Monday, 22 February 2016.
Nearly seven
decades ago, when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had inaugurated the VS Hospital, he
had called for the highest level of honesty and service for the citizens of the
city . Today , after decades, and it has come as no surprise, the charity
commissioner's office has shot off a notice to VS Hospital trustees, including
the mayor, seeking its expenditure and books of account, copy of its original
deed, and trust-related details for a detailed scrutiny on February 29.
The complaint
was based on some RTIs that claimed the hospital has not been submitting its
books of accounts to the charity commissioner's office for the past three
decades, claiming a state government exemption! Activists say the trust deed
clearly mentions that audit will be conduc ted AMC's chief auditor. But for several
years, AMC has been employing a private auditor for VS Hospital.
In the budget
released on January 23, hospital superintendent Dr S T Malhan had presented a
budget of Rs 128crore for just an 120-bed hospital, while the hospital's
currently houses 1,155 beds. Malhan claimed that more than 1,000 beds belonged
to another trust called the Medical Education Trust (MET) formed by the
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).But ironically , an RTI filed by Kalupur
resident Pankaj Bhatt in January , soon after the budget, revealed that the VS
Hospital had 1,155 beds. "The budget was an eyewash," said Bhatt.
Bhatt's RTI
also revealed that Malhan was actually employed by AMCMET. "If Malhan was
employed by AMC-MET why is he presenting the budget of VS Hospital?" asked
Bhatt.
Rupa Chinai,
one of the VS Hospital trustees, revealed that over 90 per cent (Rs 119 crore)
of the Rs 128-crore draft budget was shown to meet establishment expenses.
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