Rajasthan: Govt Hospital Leases Out PM-CARES Ventilators To Private Hospital, Ventilators Lying Unused In Churu, Kotputli

Bharatpur's Rai Bahadur hospital in Rajasthan has leased 20 of its ventilators provided for by PM-CARES Fund to Jindal private hospital, Republic TV reports.

The website quoted an aggrieved kin as saying:

"40 ventilators were provided by the PM-CARES fund. I have been asking hospital administration for past 2 months, where have the ventilators been installed? But they have no answers. Jindal hospital which has always been in controversy, has been given 10 ventilators by hospital administration. Collector says that the ventilators were faulty, but they were not. Jindal hospital has been charging Rs 35,000-40,000 for these ventilators (sic)."

The report mentions that the hospital administration has defended the move and claimed that "of the 60 ventilators it received from the PM-CARES fund, 40 were installed in ICU COVID & non-COVID wards."

Twenty ventilators were remaining unused "due to lack of oxygen point availability and lighter caseload". The hospital chose to lease these ventilators to private hospitals -- on a cost, the report says.

"The hospitals are now allegedly charging Rs 35,000-40,000 per patient for the usage of the ventilator," the report adds.

Member of Parliament from Bharatiya Janata Party Col Rajyavardhan Rathore reacted on the matter and posted a video on Twitter.

He slammed the Ashok Gehlot government and has demanded an inquiry into the incident.

There is another report that mentions ventilators in Churu in Rajasthan lying unused.

India TV has said on its website that its reporters found that "more than 20 ventilators are lying unused in Churu district hospital."

The report says:

Some of these ventilators worth crores of rupees had been dumped near a hospital washroom. The hospital chief said the ventilators had been kept near the washroom because of lack of space. Dr. Sajid Khan, the Covid nodal officer of state-run Bhartia Hospital claimed Covid patients were being given ventilators and BiPap whenever required, 15 ventilators are ‘uninstalled’, one ventilator was defective, and the remaining 51 ventilators are being used in ICU.

India TV added in its report that in Kotputli near Jaipur, "several ventilators bought last year remain unused".