The health department, through a letter received last week, has been pulled up for partial utilisation of the Rs4 crore budget meant for the RCH programmes.
The Maharashtra government has expressed disappointment with the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) health department over non-utilisation of funds meant for the reproductive and child health (RCH) programmes.
The department, through a letter received last week, has been pulled up for partial utilisation of the Rs4 crore budget meant for the RCH programmes. The health department is supposed to implement these programmes for the urban poor, including immunisation camps, programmes for pregnant women and family planning operations.
With the current financial year coming to a close, the PMC has managed to spend only 60% of the budget for its RCH programmes. Compared to this, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)’s health department managed to utilise almost 85% of its RCH budget.
Dr RR Pardeshi, PMC medical officer, blamed lack of awareness for the poor show. Citing the example of the Janani Suraksha programme he said, “In this programme, the PMC gives Rs600 to every pregnant woman who delivers the baby in a civic hospital. However, there are very few takers, as people visit private hospitals rather than government ones,” he said.
He said paperwork creates hassles for people trying to avail of this scheme. As per the state government’s directive, below poverty line (BPL) certificate and caste certificate are mandatory.
However, many who visit a civic hospital do not have the necessary documents. Instead of a BPL certificate, the civic body accepts certificates issued by the local corporator. However, in the absence of a caste certificate, the monetary grant can’t be given.
The total grant in the budget for the Janani Suraksha programme was Rs55 lakh, but sources in the health department said starting from the next financial year, the department has reduced the grant to Rs30 lakh. “We do not need such a big grant,” they said.
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