GREATER NOIDA: Amid the rush to augment health care infrastructure to prepare for another surge in Covid cases, a 27-year-old hospital spread across six acres on land shared by Baidpura, Sadullahpir and Milak Lacchi lies nearly unused.
The Rajesh Pilot Charitable Hospital was constructed at the behest of the late Congress leader after the three villages donated land for the building.
The sprawling complex was envisaged as the backbone of the health infrastructure in this rural belt.
But now, only two rooms are used, intermittently, by a visiting doctor and a pharmacist.
As Covid swept through the district earlier this year, residents of these three villages were also majorly affected.
Former pradhan of Sadullahpur village, Pappu Nagar, said: “It is ironic that despite having such a massive hospital in the village, residents struggled to find a health facility nearby.
Some villagers died, primarily due to falling oxygen levels and failure to get treatment.” Brahm Singh, another resident, recalled how a 17-year-old boy from Sadullahpur with breathing distress had to be taken all the way to Mewat in south Haryana for treatment.
“If only this hospital was functional, we would possibly not have to see so many deaths,” he said.
Residents of the three villages have now demanded that the hospital be taken over by the Gautam Budh Nagar administration.
But that’s easier said than done.
Records show the Rajesh Pilot Charitable hospital was built by the Red Cross Society (Ghaziabad), Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Trust and NBCC.
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Trust belonged to the family of Pilot, who was the driving force behind the hospital.
Nagar told TOI that in 1985, villagers donated land on Pilot’s appeal.
“Baidpura is the native village of the late Rajesh Pilot.
It was his wish to construct a hospital in his native village and since all the villagers revered him, 25 bighas of land from three villages were earmarked for the hospital,” said Nagar.
The hospital was inaugurated in 1994.
“It functioned well for around three to four years but after Pilot’s demise in 2000, the services started deteriorating,” Nagar said.
After Pilot’s death, the facility was transferred to Red Cross Society.
At the time, the area was part of Ghaziabad district.
However, as the years passed by, the facility started falling apart.
At present, the hospital, with over 15 rooms and quarters for medical staff, is reduced to empty rooms, broken windows and damaged equipment.
Locals said Rajesh Pilot’s son, Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot, visits the hospital twice a year during his father’s birth and death anniversaries.
Hospital officials admit lack of funds is hampering its functioning.
“We tried to seek assistance from the Red Cross society and the UP government several times but to no avail.
A few years ago, Sachin Pilot had expressed interest in approaching the UP government to take over the hospital, but I don’t know if anything came of that suggestion,” said Dr Narendra Kasana, the Pilot senior’s nephew.
Sachin Pilot is not averse to handing over the facility to the UP government, said his aide Gyan Chand Sharma.
Dr Kiran Garg, secretary of the Red Cross Society, Ghaziabad told TOI while papers still show the hospital to be with them, the creation of Gautam Budh Nagar as a district means it automatically came under the purview of the Gautam Budh Nagar chapter.
Asked about it, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said he had been apprised of the issue during a visit to neighbouring Saini village.
“It needs to be checked whether the facility still falls under the purview of the Red Cross society in Ghaziabad.
If that indeed is the case, the Ghaziabad society would have to transfer the facility to the GB Nagar unit.
I will check about this,” he said.
Villagers, who have written to the DM, will hope this happens soon, so that the Rajesh Pilot Charitable hospital isn’t merely a stopover for them on the way to other functional health centres.