Assam: CAG reports slam Gauhati Medical College on food expenditures

Guwahati: In a shocking disclosure, the recent CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report submitted to the state assembly points out to various discrepancies existing in the accounts of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the state's premier government hospital

The CAG in its report has been unable to digest the cost of meals that have been provided by the medical college and hospital to its patient. As per the accounts, GMCH has paid a total amount of Rs 4.13 crore (including VAT) to the supplier and distributor of meals meant for in-patients between September 2012 and October 2013. . The total was calculated on the basis of the bed strength of 2,135 beds, at the rate of Rs 40 per bed, per day for 426 days and not on the actual number of patients admitted, the report said.

Now as per CAG, this amount could feed 9.09,510 patients, whereas the actual occupancy during the period was only 2,06,000 patients. This clearly implies that the hospital has spent RS 3.19 crore to what TOI refers to ghost patients

"Had the payment been made on the basis of actual number of in-patients, expenditure on diet charges would have been restricted to a maximum of Rs 0.94 crore (including VAT). Payment of diet charges on the basis of bed capacity, rather than actual occupancy, resulted in an extra expenditure of Rs 3.19 crore," the report has clearly said.

The CAG report added that when this anomaly was pointed out in September 2014, the hospital superintendent said some wards had admitted more patients than sanctioned by their bed capacity and diet had also been provided to attendants of poor patients.