RAWALPINDI: Equipment will not be installed at the Cantonment General Hospital in the current fiscal year, as the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has yet to receive funding from the federal government a month before the end of the current fiscal year.

A senior RCB official said the tenure of the government will end by the end of the month, and the project will likely be launched in the next fiscal year.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had promised in February to release Rs570 million to equip the Cantonment General Hospital with the latest equipment, in order to improve its services for the civilian population of the cantonment areas.

A senior RCB official told Dawn the civic authority had begun the procurement process in order to save time. If the funds are released within a week, work would have to begin to procure and install the equipment this month.

He said the federal government had approved the PC-I to refurbish the hospital, and had assured that funds would be released. He said the RCB began the procurement process after receiving this assurance.

However, he said, the procurement and installation of equipment would not be completed within a month, and the project would begin after the general election.

The official said the RCB wanted to complete the work before the elections, so that locals would be able to avail the hospital’s facilities as soon as possible. He said facilities at the hospital needed to be improved, and the federal government was asked to provide additional funding in this regard.

Although the hospital has a capacity of 500 beds, it is not fully functional as the inpatient health facility is limited to just over a 100 beds. The official said the RCB in the current fiscal year spent Rs180m to improve the structure, sewerage and to install elevators.

When contacted, RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mehmood said the RCB was waiting for the funding, and would start working on installing equipment as soon as it is released.

He confirmed that the board had begun the procurement process to save time. “The federal government will release funds as soon as possible,” he added.

If the funds are not received this month, the project will begin in the next fiscal year. “The funds have been allocated and will be transferred to RCB’s accounts for the project soon,” he said.

Using the funds, the RCB will make improvements to 14 departments, and purchase two ambulances that will also serve as mini-dispensaries to administer first aid to critical patients. Five regular ambulances will also be added to the hospital fleet.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2018