32 out of 68 blood banks in Delhi running without valid licences, suggests CAG report

Thirty-two out of the 68 blood banks in the national capital were functioning "without valid licenses" in the year 2016-17 due to delay in processing applications for their renewal, the CAG has pointed out.

In its report tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has also highlighted that there were "several deficiencies" in the management of blood banks during the period.

"Thirty-two out of the 68 blood banks in the National Capital Territory of Delhi were functioning without valid licenses due to delay in processing applications for their renewal," the report said.

"Thirty-two blood banks were not updating authentic information pertaining to blood/blood components in the National Health Portal depriving the common people of the National Capital Territory of Delhi about information regarding availability of blood and blood components in the blood banks," it added.

The report further pointed out that voluntary blood collection declined from 54.55% during 2014-15 to 45.20% during 2016-17.

No blood bank of the city government and the municipal corporations of Delhi were performing Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAT) screening affecting the quality of blood, it said.

The CAG also said that "oversight and monitoring over the functioning of blood banks was inadequate".