Rajasthan: Govt Hospital In Bharatpur Leases Out 20 PM CARES-funded Ventilators To Pvt Hospital

In a shocking development, Bharatpur's Rai Bahadur hospital has leased 20 of its ventilators provided for by PM-CARES Fund to Jindal private hospital, citing 'non-usage', sources reported on Monday. An aggrieved patient's kin questioned as to why the ventilators were leased out instead of being used in the government hospital. As of date, Rajasthan has 1,99,307 active COVID cases, 5,33,973 recovered cases and 5506 fatalities.

Bharatpur ventilator row

"40 ventilators were provided by the PM-CARES fund. I have been asking hospital administration for past 2 months, where have the ventilators been installed? But they have no answers. Jindal hospital which has always been in controversy, has been given 10 ventilators by hospital administration. Collector says that the ventilators were faulty, but they were not. Jindal hospital has been charging Rs 35,000-40,000 for these ventilators," said an aggrieved kin.

Defending the move, the hospital administration claimed that of the 60 ventilators it received from the PM-CARES fund, 40 were installed in ICU COVID & non-COVID wards. With 20 ventilators remaining unused due to lack of oxygen point availability and lighter caseload, the hospital decided to lease these ventilators on cost to private hospitals. The hospitals are now allegedly charging Rs 35,000-40,000 per patient for the usage of the ventilator.

"20 ventilators have been kept at non-COVID ICU wards, while 20 have been kept for COVID ICU wards. As per our oxygen point availability and caseload we were not able to utilise 20 ventilators. Hence, we took a conscious decision to give it to a private hospital on cost," said the hospital administrator.

Slamming the Gehlot govt for this move, BJP MP Rajyavardhan Rathore demanded an inquiry into the incident saying, "PM Cares has provided for ventilators in every district in Rajasthan. But in Bharatpur, instead of using those 10 ventilators in the Rai Bahadur govt Hospital, the govt has rented these ventilators to a private hospital for Rs 2000/day. That ventilator which would have saved a poor person's life for free now costs Rs 50,000. In another district, people are dying, but ventilators provided by the PM-CARES fund are still sitting unused in boxes. In Jaipur, a patient must pay Rs 1 lakh for an ICU bed. An inquiry must be done and Rajasthan govt must do its job and save lives."

What is the PM-Cares fund?

On 28 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), where citizens can contribute to aide the government's efforts in supporting those affected by disasters. This fund will provide relief to the affected from any walk of life dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation. The fund is chaired by PM Modi and includes Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking transfer of PM-CARES donations to the NDRF.

The public fund - PM-CARES which is not audited by CAG, was audited by 'independent auditors appointed by the trustees'. As per the audit report released on September 2, the emergency fund has a balance of Rs 30,76,62,56,047 The report informed that Rs 3076 crores were received till March 31. However, the audit report failed to disclose the amount received post-March 31 till date. Out of the total amount, 30,75,85,32,045 has been received through domestic contributions while 39,67,748 Rs came in through foreign contributions.