PESHAWAR, Dec 9: Non-availability of adequate funds and hurdles in projects' execution are affecting timely completion of the improvement and standardisation work of 21 district headquarters Hospitals in the province.
A hardly 15 per cent work has been completed over the last two and a half years.
Sources in the provincial health department said that the military-led government had initiated a project entitled "Improvement and Standardisation of the DHQs hospitals" by upgrading existing health facilities at a cost of Rs3,012.103 million.
However, the pace of execution of the project remained very slow from the financial year 2002-03 onwards when it first appeared in the budgetary estimates. "Delays in approval of the projects and lack of resources for their execution affected the overall progress of work on the project as during the last two financial years only Rs449.572 million could be utilized, and about 15 per cent of the total estimated cost, said the sources.
Keeping in view the availability of the resources and execution of the project at the existing level, the completion of the improvement and standardisation of the DHQs hospitals would take 10 to 15 years and the cost of the project would also increase, an official of the health department observed.
In the financial year 2004-05, the provincial government had allocated Rs328.773 million for the DHQs hospitals of 21 districts, out of which Rs320.773 million had been released to the health department.
During the first three months of the current fiscal, the total utilization on these hospitals' up-gradation was recorded at Rs81.385 million, 24 per cent of the total allocation.
The hospitals and allocations in the current fiscal for their improvement and standardisation included the DHQs hospital, Tank, Rs12 million; DHQs hospital, D.I. Khan, Rs15 million; DHQs hospital, Bannu, Rs3 million; DHQs hospital, Karak, Rs16.916 million; DHQs hospital, Kohat, Rs16.6 million; DHQs hospital, Hangu, Rs6 million; DHQs hospital, Charsadda, Rs25.419 million; DHQs hospital, Nowshehra, Rs10 million; DHQs hospital, Swabi, Rs26.783 million; DHQs hospital, Mardan, Rs2 million; DHQ hospital, Malakand, Rs2 million; DHQs hospital, Buner, Rs21 million; DHQ hospital, Shangla, Rs11 million; DHQs hospital, Dir Lower, Rs23 million; DHQ hospital, Dir Upper, Rs28 million; DHQ hospital, Chitral, Rs21.955 million; DHQ hospital, Kohistan, Rs10 million; DHQ hospital, Battagram, Rs13 million; DHQ hospital, Mansehra, Rs28 million; DHQ hospital, Abbottabad, Rs10.1 million; and DHQs hospital, Haripur, Rs27 million.
