INDORE: Amid the controversy around the ‘phantom’ hospital in Khajrana for which medical posts were created and staff sanctioned and deployed, on paper, the Indore health department on Monday claimed that the piece of land earmarked for the medical facility is currently in possession of the local civic body and yet to be transferred.Even if the land was transferred, it wouldn’t matter much as the funds for construction work were also yet to arrive, the health department added.In a report to the district administration, Chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr. Madhav Prasad Hasani shed light on the current status of the proposed 100-bed Khajrana civil hospital, confirming the TOI report earlier that it ‘officially’ existed only on paper for six years with 87 sanctioned positions, adding that neither has a plot been made available nor infrastructure built.According to the official document, an order dated September 7, 2019, initially allotted a 0.700-hectare plot under Survey Number 435/1/1 in Khajrana village to the Health department for construction of the hospital. Although a possession letter for an alternative land parcel was issued, the plot in question was never formally transferred to the department.Currently, the piece of land is held by the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), meaning no land is actively available for the hospital.Further, it turns out that the CMHO office has not received any administrative approvals or funding for building construction, and neither have medical equipment or medicines been procured.The department of public health and family welfare had approved and sanctioned posts for the hospital as far back as June 23, 2021. Since then, however, the Directorate of Health Services issued consecutive transfer orders for nursing officers, with the latest cycles processed in May and June 2026.With the hospital non-existent, the assigned staff members were officially deployed to alternative urban health institutions and Sanjeevani clinics to meet post-Covid healthcare needs, the document states, adding that no doctors are currently posted to the institution at any administrative level.The heads of the sub-institutions currently utilising these staffers will soon provide work certifications to the senior office, the document adds.Meanwhile, taking cognisance of the controversy around the non-existent hospital, Indore’s district collector Shivam Verma assured that suitable govt land will be identified and made available to the health department for building the proposed facility.He said a formal request in this regard will be submitted to senior authorities to secure the required financial resources to construct the hospital, which is tipped to provide secondary healthcare services to an estimated civilian population of over three lakh in Khajrana.
