Lakhs Worth of Ultrasound Machines Dust-Gathering for 7 Years in GMSH-16 Civil Hospitals; Suspicious AMC Payments Continue for Non-Functional Units: Vikram Singh
Chandigarh : Dated : 04 – 09 – 2026
Issue at Sector-45 and Manimajra Civil Hospitals under GMSH-16 Health Department: Pregnant and poor patients forced to pay high rates at private diagnostic centers.
Letter sent to the Union Health Minister and Administrator of Chandigarh demanding an impartial inquiry, physical audit, and strict action against guilty officials.
CHANDIGARH | Date: September 04, 2026
Two premium, high-resolution color Doppler ultrasound machines installed in 2016 to provide accessible healthcare to patients in the peripheral areas of Chandigarh have turned into white elephants for the past 6 to 7 years. Located at Civil Hospital Sector-45 and Civil Hospital Manimajra—both under the administrative control of Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH-16)—these high-end imaging systems remain completely operational-defunct and unutilized.
Highlighting this severe administrative negligence and misuse of public funds, social activist Vikram Singh (resident of Kajheri, Chandigarh) has submitted a formal representation to the Hon’ble Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and the Hon’ble Administrator of UT Chandigarh, seeking immediate intervention, a comprehensive physical audit, and a high-level probe.
RTI Reveals Arbitrary Shutdown After 3 Years of Service Citing information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Vikram Singh stated that the machines were procured in 2016 at a cost of ₹25,05,000 each using public funds. For the first three years, radiologists from GMSH-16 visited these satellite hospitals on a rotational basis to perform scans. However, due to administrative apathy, the rotational visits were abruptly halted, leaving these vital diagnostic tools to deteriorate.
Suspicion of Major Financial Irregularity in AMC Payments
Addressing the media, Vikram Singh alleged: “The most alarming aspect is that despite both machines remaining completely shut down and idle for nearly 6-7 years, Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) payments of approximately ₹2 lakh per machine have been consistently cleared and disbursed to vendors every year. Disbursing public funds for non-functional equipment points directly to deliberate collusion and corruption between hospital administrative officials and contractors.”
Poor Patients Suffer; GMSH-16 Relies on DNB Trainees.
Due to the non-functional facilities, hundreds of daily patients—particularly pregnant women and gynaecological patients—are forced to visit expensive private diagnostic centers. Singh pointed out that GMSH-16 currently has 3 full-time radiologists and 10 DNB trainees in its Radiology Department, with trainees handling nearly 99% of routine ultrasound cases. He questioned why at least one radiologist or doctor cannot be deployed on a rotational basis to Sector-45 and Manimajra, as was successfully done in 2016.
Key Demands: Physical Audit: Conduct an immediate physical audit of all logbooks, asset registers, operational status reports, and maintenance records related to the ultrasound machines at Sector-45 and Manimajra Civil Hospitals.
Fix Accountability: Identify and initiate strict legal and administrative action against officials, Senior Medical Officers (SMOs), and vendors responsible for approving and clearing AMC payments for non-functional machines.
Resume Rotational Deployment: Immediately restore rotational postings of radiologists/DNB trainees from GMSH-16 to restart ultrasound services at both civil hospitals.
Vikram Singh expressed confidence that the Hon’ble Health Minister, the Administrator of UT Chandigarh, and the Health Secretary will take strong cognizance of this matter of public interest, grant immediate relief to the residents, and order strict action against those responsible.
Contact Information:
Vikram Singh
House No. 233, Village Kajheri, Sector-52, Chandigarh – 160036
