DELAY IN BMC’S INTEGRATED HEALTH SYSTEM TO BE PROBED

MUMBAI: The civic body, after a standing committee meeting on Wednesday, has decided to initiate an inquiry into the 15-year delay in implementing the proposed Health Management Information System (HMIS). The demand for the probe came after the committee rejected the administration’s proposal to purchase additional equipment worth ₹7 crore, in five hospitals, for the project.

The project aims to revamp the civic health system, by integrating information into a cloudbased system. In 2004, BMC floated the tender for a pilot run of the project at Bhabha Hospital in Bandra. It has spent ₹100 crore on the project so far.

After Wednesday’s meeting, councillors across party lines lashed out at the administration’s failure to implement the project. “The IT department has failed to implement the system and is now blaming the doctors. There is no coordination between the health department and the IT department, which has led to the delay,” said a senior civic official.

“The administration must initiate an inquiry against the delay and present a report at the next meeting,” said Yashwant Jadhav, standing committee chairman. Rais Shaikh from SP said, “In addition to technical difficulties, there is also the lack of will. Why is it that the same system is functioning effectively at Sir JJ Hospital, but not at civic hospitals.” Manoj Kotak from BJP demanded an FIR be registered against the consultant who made the proposal to spend an additional ₹7 crore.