Half of oxygen plants were non-functional in Bengal during Covid: CAG report
A CAG audit found more than half of Covid-era oxygen plants and devices lying unused in West Bengal hospitals. The findings expose weak follow-through on pandemic assets and large unspent response funds.
A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has said that more than half of the PSA oxygen plants installed under PM CARES and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in West Bengal during the Covid-19 pandemic were either not commissioned or non-functional as of December 2023. The report also said ventilators and oxygen concentrators supplied during the pandemic were lying idle at two government hospitals.
The report, tabled in the Assembly on Friday, also flagged gaps in the use of Covid-related funds. It said Rs 659.28 crore, or 65 per cent of the amount released under the Emergency COVID Response Package-II, remained unspent as of March 2022, while Rs 462.05 crore released as State COVID untied funds also remained unutilised.
The findings are part of the CAG's 2024 report on public health infrastructure and management of health services in West Bengal. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Friday, and CAG reports for four financial years up to 2024-25 had not been tabled earlier by the erstwhile TMC government.
The audit reviewed the infrastructure created during the pandemic, when ventilators, oxygen concentrators and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants were supplied under the PM CARES Fund to strengthen public healthcare facilities.
Of the 75 PSA plants supplied under PM CARES and CSR initiatives, only 32 were functional as of December 2023, while the remaining 43 were either yet to be commissioned or were non-functional. Of the 46 plants supplied through PM CARES, 23 were functional, while only nine of the 29 CSR-funded plants were operational.
The report noted that the PM CARES Fund was set up by the Narendra Modi government as a public charitable trust to deal with emergency or distress situations such as the pandemic and to provide relief to those affected. The performance audit also found instances of PM CARES-funded ventilators and oxygen concentrators remaining non-operational or lying in store in the hospitals checked by the auditor.
At the Critical Care Medicine Department of SSKM Medical College and Hospital, five ventilators received under PM CARES were lying in stock as of March 2022 and had not been made operational because consumables were not available, the report said. Another three ventilators received under the scheme were found packed in the hospital store.
Hospital authorities told the auditor that the consumables supplied with the ventilators had been exhausted after prolonged use during the pandemic, and that the machines could not be run without fresh consumables, even though the report recorded that they remained in stock or packed during the audit.
At Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, 17 ICU ventilators received under PM CARES during 2020-22 remained non-functional as of March 2022 because the High Dependency Unit was not operational. Five oxygen concentrators received under PM CARES were also found lying in the hospital store.
On the PSA plants, the West Bengal Medical Services Corporation Ltd told the auditor that installation was within the scope of the Union government and the CSR agencies concerned, and said tenders had been invited to make the remaining plants functional.
The CAG, however, said there was 'no assurance available to indicate as to when' the remaining PSA oxygen generation plants would become operational.
A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has said that more than half of the PSA oxygen plants installed under PM CARES and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in West Bengal during the Covid-19 pandemic were either not commissioned or non-functional as of December 2023. The report also said ventilators and oxygen concentrators supplied during the pandemic were lying idle at two government hospitals.
The report, tabled in the Assembly on Friday, also flagged gaps in the use of Covid-related funds. It said Rs 659.28 crore, or 65 per cent of the amount released under the Emergency COVID Response Package-II, remained unspent as of March 2022, while Rs 462.05 crore released as State COVID untied funds also remained unutilised.
The findings are part of the CAG's 2024 report on public health infrastructure and management of health services in West Bengal. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Friday, and CAG reports for four financial years up to 2024-25 had not been tabled earlier by the erstwhile TMC government.
The audit reviewed the infrastructure created during the pandemic, when ventilators, oxygen concentrators and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants were supplied under the PM CARES Fund to strengthen public healthcare facilities.
Of the 75 PSA plants supplied under PM CARES and CSR initiatives, only 32 were functional as of December 2023, while the remaining 43 were either yet to be commissioned or were non-functional. Of the 46 plants supplied through PM CARES, 23 were functional, while only nine of the 29 CSR-funded plants were operational.
The report noted that the PM CARES Fund was set up by the Narendra Modi government as a public charitable trust to deal with emergency or distress situations such as the pandemic and to provide relief to those affected. The performance audit also found instances of PM CARES-funded ventilators and oxygen concentrators remaining non-operational or lying in store in the hospitals checked by the auditor.
At the Critical Care Medicine Department of SSKM Medical College and Hospital, five ventilators received under PM CARES were lying in stock as of March 2022 and had not been made operational because consumables were not available, the report said. Another three ventilators received under the scheme were found packed in the hospital store.
Hospital authorities told the auditor that the consumables supplied with the ventilators had been exhausted after prolonged use during the pandemic, and that the machines could not be run without fresh consumables, even though the report recorded that they remained in stock or packed during the audit.
At Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, 17 ICU ventilators received under PM CARES during 2020-22 remained non-functional as of March 2022 because the High Dependency Unit was not operational. Five oxygen concentrators received under PM CARES were also found lying in the hospital store.
On the PSA plants, the West Bengal Medical Services Corporation Ltd told the auditor that installation was within the scope of the Union government and the CSR agencies concerned, and said tenders had been invited to make the remaining plants functional.
The CAG, however, said there was 'no assurance available to indicate as to when' the remaining PSA oxygen generation plants would become operational.
A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has said that more than half of the PSA oxygen plants installed under PM CARES and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in West Bengal during the Covid-19 pandemic were either not commissioned or non-functional as of December 2023. The report also said ventilators and oxygen concentrators supplied during the pandemic were lying idle at two government hospitals.
The report, tabled in the Assembly on Friday, also flagged gaps in the use of Covid-related funds. It said Rs 659.28 crore, or 65 per cent of the amount released under the Emergency COVID Response Package-II, remained unspent as of March 2022, while Rs 462.05 crore released as State COVID untied funds also remained unutilised.
The findings are part of the CAG's 2024 report on public health infrastructure and management of health services in West Bengal. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Friday, and CAG reports for four financial years up to 2024-25 had not been tabled earlier by the erstwhile TMC government.
The audit reviewed the infrastructure created during the pandemic, when ventilators, oxygen concentrators and Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants were supplied under the PM CARES Fund to strengthen public healthcare facilities.
Of the 75 PSA plants supplied under PM CARES and CSR initiatives, only 32 were functional as of December 2023, while the remaining 43 were either yet to be commissioned or were non-functional. Of the 46 plants supplied through PM CARES, 23 were functional, while only nine of the 29 CSR-funded plants were operational.
The report noted that the PM CARES Fund was set up by the Narendra Modi government as a public charitable trust to deal with emergency or distress situations such as the pandemic and to provide relief to those affected. The performance audit also found instances of PM CARES-funded ventilators and oxygen concentrators remaining non-operational or lying in store in the hospitals checked by the auditor.
At the Critical Care Medicine Department of SSKM Medical College and Hospital, five ventilators received under PM CARES were lying in stock as of March 2022 and had not been made operational because consumables were not available, the report said. Another three ventilators received under the scheme were found packed in the hospital store.
Hospital authorities told the auditor that the consumables supplied with the ventilators had been exhausted after prolonged use during the pandemic, and that the machines could not be run without fresh consumables, even though the report recorded that they remained in stock or packed during the audit.
At Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, 17 ICU ventilators received under PM CARES during 2020-22 remained non-functional as of March 2022 because the High Dependency Unit was not operational. Five oxygen concentrators received under PM CARES were also found lying in the hospital store.
On the PSA plants, the West Bengal Medical Services Corporation Ltd told the auditor that installation was within the scope of the Union government and the CSR agencies concerned, and said tenders had been invited to make the remaining plants functional.
The CAG, however, said there was 'no assurance available to indicate as to when' the remaining PSA oxygen generation plants would become operational.
