Government hospital staff to donate wheelchairs worth Rs 23,000

It's been three years of wait for four wheelchairs. Fed up with the indefinite delay, doctors and other medical staff at the government-run Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital have now decided to donate the wheelchairs to the institution which is among the 10 government hospitals in Delhi that issue disability certificates.

Hospital sources said some doctors and a pharmacist at the hospital recently decided to buy six wheelchairs for the welfare of the patients. The hospital requires at least four wheelchairs to address patients' needs, but currently it has none.

The cost of a single wheelchair is around Rs 3,800. The hospital staff have come together to donate the wheelchairs worth nearly Rs 23,000 to the hospital. "There are two doctors and one pharmacist who have decided to donate two wheelchairs each to the hospital. They will be paying for them through their own salary. The hospital has been facing shortage of wheelchairs for too long," a senior doctor from the hospital told Mail Today.

Recently, Secretary (Health) Amar Nath visited the hospital with his wife and even he was shocked to know that the hospital doesn't have wheelchairs. "He was surprised to find out that there was not a single wheelchair in the hospital. Interestingly, he himself expressed interest in donating a wheelchair to the hospital," the doctor said.

The government hospital, which caters to around 1,000-1,200 patients on a daily basis, is struggling to procure wheelchairs since 2013. Sources at the hospital told Mail Today that the last purchase was made at the time of the Commonwealth Games in 2010. "Several letters have been written regarding the purchase of wheelchairs, but all efforts have gone to waste," added the senior doctor.

As per the tentative census of 2015, the hospital has issued 383 disability certificates from April 2015 to November 2015. "People with disabilities face problems while visiting the hospital. There should be at least one wheelchair in the hospital," the doctor added.

Apart from this hospital, its administration also looks after the mortuary at Subzi Mandi, the oldest and biggest mortuary in Delhi. The hospital is in close vicinity of LG house, Tis Hazari district court and the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

The administration had sent a purchase order for four wheelchairs to Central Procurement Agency (CPA) on December 14 last year. The government has made it mandatory for government hospitals to purchase all medical and surgical requirements through the CPA. The move was taken to make the process more transparent.

"The entire process is quite cumbersome. It will take around six months for the agency to get us the wheelchairs. Till that time, we will have to look for some options," another doctor from the hospital told Mail Today.

Apart from Aruna Asaf Ali, nine other government hospitals in the Capital issue disability certificates - Lok Nayak, Hindu Rao & Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur, Pt Madan Mohan Malviya, Guru Gobind Singh, Deendayal Upadhyay & Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital (rural area), Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital and Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).

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