MY Hospital upgrade to remain a pipe dream

INDORE: "State will chalk out a plan for up-gradation of MY Hospital into super specialty. I have discussed to improve health facilities for Indore with the Union health minister to fund the hospital under Prime Minister Health Scheme" - Lok Sabha speaker, Sumitra Mahajan. The single line in Mahajan's speech on her recent visit to her home state has forced experts in the field to wonder as to how she will go about it, since there are numerous pending projects that are yet to see the light of day.
"I fear that Mahajan's dream to upgrade MY Hospital will not be realised. By the time there's some effort to initiate the project the cost will escalate. This has happened in previous projects as well. Mahajan has been the Member of Parliament of Indore, seven times before being elected as MP Lok Sabha Speaker," said Shivakant Vajpayee, a health department official adding that she seemed to have woken up now.
City population has increased manifold in the last couple of decades but healthcare facilities have improved only in the private sector. MY Hospital houses a total of 917 beds, while on an average 1,100 patients are admitted at a given time. Governments came and went but the hospital did not witness any major changes. Dr Anand Rai, activist and health department official, said, "An elected MP gets Rs 8 crore for development works in his constituency. How many times has MP Sumitra Mahajan allocated funds for the development of MY Hospital? It is just another political statement".
In January, 2011, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced the ambitious cardiac unit at an estimated cost of Rs 16 crore. The inordinate delay has escalated the cost of the project by almost more than three times.