The new building of Shillong Civil Hospital (below) and patients crowd the corridor in the old building. Pictures by Eastern Projections

Shillong, Aug. 14: Scores of patients are forced to languish in the corridors of the overcrowded Shillong Civil Hospital everyday though a new 200-bed building stands ready in the same compound.

Thanks to red tape, despite the new building being completed in 2006, it has not been handed over to the hospital for use. At least 50 patients are forced to sleep in the corridor of the old hospital everyday, a relative complained.

The staff said they were helpless since the government had not officially handed over the 200-bed building to accommodate patients.

It was in March 2001 that the state government approved the construction of a separate 200-bed hospital building in the same complex.

The building was constructed and water supply installed at a total cost of Rs 3.60 crore, funded by the state government.

The state directorate of health services bought equipment worth Rs 59.26 lakh using its discretionary funds, which the government did not bother to reimburse.

In 2005, when the building was still under construction, the directorate sent a proposal to the government to appoint staff for the hospital — the approval for which is still pending. Two years later, in August 2007, the government agreed to recruit staff for the entire hospital — old and new.

Armed with the government’s nod for recruitment, a fresh proposal was submitted by director of health services, K.H. Lakiang.

The proposal is still lying with the government.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in a recent report, stated that the hospital was being forced to admit at least 20-25 patients everyday beyond its capacity though the 200-bed building was lying unutilised yards away.

The CAG report blamed both Lakiang and the Meghalaya government for failing to take decisions regarding recruitment on time.

“This not only shows the apathy of the department in properly utilising its assets, but also renders the expenditure of Rs 3.6 crore idle.”