The J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited – JKMSCL is, as of now, giving a tough time to the concerned heads of the health institutions in Kashmir, as they are failing in making sure that the essential drugs are available to the patients.

Sources are revealing that the corporation is sitting on their orders of supplying essential drugs/ medicines for the concerned hospitals, even after depositing the requisite funds.

A senior official in the administration of one of the hospital, on the condition of anonymity, said that the corporation is making the functioning of the hospitals tough. “The money has been deposited for the procurement of medicines, but they do not understand our situation,” the official said.

Various hospitals are running short of essential medicines and patients are, with the result, suffering. Large consignments of drugs/medicines, as per sources are lying at the corporation’s warehouse without being allocated to the concerned hospitals, sources added.

There has been a major tussle between bureaucrats and medics, as many are seeing the combination as unrealistic and there are many chances that bureaucrats and medics will not agree on certain things, as they deal with two totally opposite things.

Sources are saying that recently an official of higher ranking in the health department, who is also a medic, entered into an argument over the delay in procurement, with the medic replying to the bureaucrat “you (referring to the official in the corporation) as an administrative officer cannot understand our constrains, as we have to deal with patients.”

The mission statement of JKMSCL says that it adopts the most transparent system in procurement. Utmost care is taken to procure quality drugs at most competitive rates; however, the recent Audit Report from CAG has raised serious concerns over the procurement process in the health department.

“Large scale procurements (Medicines: 244.28 crore; Equipment: 234.80 crore) were made on the basis of expired rate contracts/ outside health institutions and from the local market,” report said.

JKMSCL has the mandate for procurement and supply of quality drugs, medicines, surgical items and sutures to various Government health institutions in the state, contrary to this the CAG report has said that 50.95 lakh tablets/ capsules/ injections, etc. (value: 282.74 lakh) declared `Not of Standard Quality’ had been issued for supply to patients, raising serious questions over the functioning of the corporation.

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