Fund approval for Victoria nephro annexe to be based on report: Sudhakar

Responding to a DH article titled 'Karnataka Cabinet failure to approve funds leaves Victoria nephro unit in limbo’, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that a decision will be taken based on the medical education secretary’s report.

DH had reported that the construction of the annexe building of the Institute of Nephro-Urology (INU) in the Victoria Hospital campus had been stopped during Covid in 2020. Though the majority of the annexe building’s construction was completed, it couldn’t be opened as the cabinet is yet to approve an additional amount of Rs 8 crore that is needed to complete the pending works. The original estimate for the project was Rs 18.4 crore.

"The revised estimate is about 60% higher than the original estimate. So, the Governing Council of INU has resolved that a report be submitted by the secretary of medical education on the price revision,” the response from Sudhakar’s office said. "Once the report of the secretary comes, a decision shall be taken on whether to approve the revised estimate or to hold an enquiry against erring officials for having not taken administrative approvals before sanctioning additional works."

The work is undertaken by the state agency KHSDRP (Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project). The agency had submitted a higher estimate to INU post-Covid because of the price escalation by then, INU director Dr Keshavamurthy R said.