26 October 2004	Tuesday	11 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The administration of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) has put the health minister in an embarrassing situation for the second time before the elected representatives as it provided incomplete and false figures for presentation before the National Assembly on Monday.

Earlier, factually incorrect information was provided to the minister in response to a question asked in the Senate pertaining to irregular appointments in Pims.

The partial and factually incorrect information was placed before the House by Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan on Monday in response to two questions by MNA Rana Asif Tauseef who had asked the details about budget allocation to the Pims from 1999 to 2004 and the details of machinery and equipment presently available in the hospital.

The reply, prepared by the Pims administration, and placed before the lower house, did not include budget allocations of Rs84 million for construction of Quaid-i-Azam Postgraduate Medical Centre in Pims for the said period asked by the National Assembly.

The Pims administration, while giving details of budgets for Islamabad Hospital, Children Hospital, College of Medical Technology, College of Nursing and School of Nursing did not give allocations for Quaid-i-Azam Postgraduate Medical College as no progress had been made on the project due to inability of the administration to pursue the case properly. Total funds allocated for the project amounted to Rs201.914 million since its inception.

The reply submitted by the Pims administration also did not include a figure of Rs10 million allocated by the government for the Cardiac Surgery facilities at the hospital which are still non existent.

The reply submitted by the minister revealed that the hospital administration spent Rs11 million on repair and maintenance of equipment in the hospital during the last one year, an amount which exceeded the budget allocation by the government for the said purpose.

The government had sanctioned Rs7.321 million for repair of machinery and equipment for Pims during 2003-04.

The record placed before the house showed that details about major non-functioning equipment in Islamabad Hospital were concealed from the public representatives which included Lithotripsy Unit and Eye-Lasers (Argon and YAG) costing an estimated amount of Rs75 million.

The list of heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) equipment in Islamabad Hospital did not include the details about out of order absorption chillers, cooling towers, chilled water pumps and condenser pumps and the amount being spent.

The inadequate cooling facilities in the hospital not only hamper the work of the doctors but also add to the misery of the patients.