Health facilities in a sorry state Community prefers to visit govt hospitals

New Delhi: Charity from benevolent Sikhs enables the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) to earmark about Rs 60 crore a year for expenditure on religious shrines, educational and health institutions in the national Capital.

The health facilities of the DSGMC are stagnant. The Sikh population in Delhi still depends on the DSGMC-run seven dispensaries, polyclinics and the Guru Harkrishan Singh Hospital (GHSH) at Bala Sahib Gurdwara which is the committee’s only hospital.

The community prefers to visit government hospitals or nearby private centres.

Increased costs of the OPD fee at the 45-bed GHSH, technically a polyclinic, has not gone down well with the people. The DSGMC’s move to lease the new GHSH building having 400-bed multi-specialty facility has led to acrimony with sections among the community protesting against the leasing of Gurdwara land to private parties.

A resident of Bhagwan Nagar, Kulbir Singh Raina, said, “Hospital management and services have deteriorated over the past 10 years. Patients are referred to private labs. There should be an audit on how these hospitals are running and where the huge funds are going.”

All the dispensaries and polyclinics have daycare facilities for preliminary treatment. The GHSH has four deluxe and one semi-private rooms. An ICU unit functions with just two beds.

The regular cost of admission to the ward is Rs 900 per day, including the charges for the room, bed, consultation besides the charges for X-ray and lab tests if needed. The charges go up for the private rooms, based on whether it is a semi-private or deluxe room. The OPD card is available for Rs 10 and Rs 75-100 is the consultation fee.

The Paramjit Singh Sarna-led ruling group has promised a ‘Guru Harkrishan Medical Insurance Scheme’, a cashless facility launched last January for the poor Sikhs.

Sarna said, “We want to make the Guru Harkrishan Singh Hospital a multi-superspecialty hospital with 25 per cent OPD and 10 per cent of indoor facilities being free services for the poor at par with other big private hospitals. The new building is ready and the hospital would start functioning in one year.”

Source:The Tribune