New Delhi: More than Rs 550 crore has been poured into revamping Lok Nayak Hospital, yet there is lack of clarity on its completion, Delhi High Court has said.Flagging its concern over the stalled project, a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora recently ordered Delhi govt to expedite the work. “As a substantial amount of expenditure of more than Rs 550 crore was already made in this project, the said hospital ought to be completed at the earliest so that it can be made operational,” the court observed. While reviewing the progress in construction and infrastructural development of partially complete or under-construction hospital projects across the city, it pointed out, “One of the main projects where there is a lack of clarity is Lok Nayak Hospital, which is stated to be partially constructed.”Health secretary Nikhil Kumar responded that at LNJP, the new block for medicine, maternity and paediatric centre was already partially constructed, but the work was stopped due to budgetary constraints and other reasons.The bench asked for a status report after ordering a meeting between officials of PWD and the health department to decide immediately about the completion of the work at the Hospital.The court was dealing with a suo motu case initiated in 2017 over the alleged lack of critical care at govt hospitals, where it had earlier directed the AIIMS director to ensure that the recommendations of the Dr SK Sarin committee were implemented. The panel had pointed out several deficiencies in the health system, including vacant posts, a shortage of critical faculty members and infrastructure.LNJP Hospital’s new block, which was being constructed by PWD, was sanctioned in Nov 2020. It was to have 22 floors with 1,570 beds and a parking capacity of around 400 vehicles. The construction was supposed to be completed within 30 months, but the work halted in late 2023. According to govt records, 64% of the work was completed. Later, PWD attributed the delay to cost overruns. The cost was initially pegged at Rs 465 crore, but increased to Rs 1,135 crore, an escalation of over 140%. The stalled work has impacted the hospital’s current requirements for modern infrastructure to cater to rising health service demands. The new block was supposed to take the net capacity of the hospital to over 3,500 beds. In 2024, the lieutenant governor approved a proposal to refer the case to Central Vigilance Commission to constitute a special team of chief technical examiners to conduct a detailed examination. The inquiry is not over yet.
