The Union Government on Tuesday revealed that it has refused an appeal by the state government for an additional Rs. 53 crore for the upgradation of the
Nizam's Institute Of Medical Sciences.
According to a statement by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh government had asked for an additional Rs. 53 crore from the Project Management Committee (PMC) of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
The PMC had earlier, on 6 June 2007, observed that the estimated cost of Rs. 120 crore for the upgradation of NIMS was too less. It had felt that an additional Rs. 53 crore would be needed to make NIMS a world-class hospital.
Accordingly, the state government had assured in the PMC meeting that they would sanction the additional amount to cover the increased cost.
But the state government later requested the centre to sanction the additional funds of Rs. 53 crore.
The centre, on 23 September 2009, put the proposal for revised cost estimates for all the upgradation projects including NIMS under Phase-I of PMSSY before the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC).
The EFC suggested that any additional funds beyond the sanctioned budget for upgradation projects would be borne by the respective state governments.
Azad told the Rajya Sabha that the EFC informed the Andhra Pradesh government and added that out of central share of Rs. 100 crore, Rs. 77.2 crore has already been spent and the remaining amount of Rs. 22.8 crore will be released in December 2010.
Courtesy: INN