50 lakh meant for PPE redirected to PM-CARES fund, allege AIIMS resident doctors

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/50-lakh-...

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) has alleged that the administration and corporate social responsibility (CSR) section had redirected ₹50 lakh from Bharat Dynamics under the Ministry of Defence to PM-CARES fund rather than the originally assigned purpose of buying personal protection equipment (PPE).

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, a public charitable trust, was set up in response to the emerging requirement for resources to defeat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Association added that the hostel superintendent was not able to arrange accommodation despite instructions to cut travel time for doctors.

“We met with the administration on Wednesday and told them about our concerns and requested that all personal protection equipment will have to meet the safety standards prescribed by the Health Ministry and that neither doctors nor other patients should be put at risk of catching the infection. “Jugaad” PPE will not work,” said AIIMS RDA general secretary T. Srinivas Rajkumar on Thursday.

He said the funds being re-directed was a serious issue.

The RDA has also noted that the hostel superintendent was reluctant to arrange for accommodation despite repeated instructions by the AIIMS administration to make the stay comfortable for residents travelling from far every day.

Meanwhile, the AIIMS RDA has also written to the Central government about the recent assault on doctors treating a COVID-19 patient at the Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad.

“It is extremely disheartening to know that such events continue unabated even when this country is going through this massive pandemic. Such actions would destroy the morale of frontline healthcare workers deployed in such testing situation,” said the AIIMS RDA in its letter.