The Deccan Herald 20.08.2010
Crores down the drain
Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, Bangalore, August 19, DH News Service:
The subhuman, sordid living conditions at the Sumanahalli Beggars’ Rehabilitation Centre, near here, is not due to paucity or diversion of funds, but non-utilisation of the allotted money.
According to sources in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Rs 28 crore was released to the centre in the last three years. Of this, Rs five crore was released just 10 days ago. Notwithstanding this copious allocation, the centre faces acute shortage of staff and the more than 2,500 inmates with old-age related, mental and chronic illnesses have just a single doctor at their service.
Justifying the posting of just one doctor, C N Manjegowda, Chairman, Central Relief Committee, denied that the centre was not attending to the inmates’ healthcare needs.
“If you look at the number of doctors appointed at the primary health centres at hobli-level, our centre still has sufficient medical care. We also send the ailing inmates to the Isolation and Victoria Hospitals for treatment,” he told Deccan Herald.
But this dispensary is not a great show if one goes by inmates’ accounts. “I suffer from dermatitis, but I never went to the dispensary as it doles out only one pill for all ailments,” complained Bheema Reddy (63) of Gulbarga district who came to the centre a month ago.
Francis, another inmate, complains of unhygienic food. The kitchen lacks a food container to keep the cooked rice. So, it is heaped on a tiled-platform and covered with a cloth. It is anybody’s guess if the raised area is cleaned regularly.
Manjegowda denied that inmates were given limited food. “We give them unlimited food. They are also given three pairs of clothes every year,” he said.
Hold on as similar confounding things unfold. The Centre is functioning with less than half of its staff strength. Out of 230 workers, just 99 are on the job. The remaining 131 posts, however, are inexplicably vacant.
“This is not an extraordinary situation, almost all government departments are short-staffed,” Manjegowda argued.
Scan this. Of 76 warders, there are just 25. Similarly, there are just 12 watchmen out of the 28 required. The Centre needs six more sweepers.
Admitting that the vacant posts should be filled without delay, Manjegowda said that they had just recruited 15 sentries, four drivers, and a peon. Other posts would be filled soon, he hoped.
He said that the Centre received three per cent of the total property tax collected across the State. A meeting of the Central Relief Committee, chaired by Commissioner for Social Welfare Manjunath Prasad, decided to focus more on the inmates’ hygiene.
