A recent CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report has revealed severe mismanagement in Gujarat’s healthcare sector, particularly within the Gujarat Medical Services Corporation Limited (GMSCL). 

Despite sufficient funds being allocated by both the central and state governments to procure medicines for poor patients, GMSCL failed to utilise ₹1,129 crore, leaving critical medicines unpurchased.

The CAG report highlights that GMSCL has not been providing an adequate stock of medicines to government hospitals. As a result, poor patients, who are supposed to receive free treatment, are being forced to buy medicines from private medical stores, bearing additional financial burdens.

The procurement of medicines is the responsibility of GMSCL, which had a total budget of ₹5240 crore for this purpose. However, only ₹4111 crore was spent, meaning 22% of the budget remained unutilised.

A policy introduced in 2005 to regulate medicine procurement and distribution included the listing of essential drugs and the formation of a committee to ensure hospitals received the necessary medicines. 

However, the CAG report has exposed gaps in implementation, revealing that:

Hospitals received only 41% to 60% of the required medicines between 2016-17 and 2021-22, leading to severe shortages.

Quality checks on medicines were significantly delayed, with test reports taking over six months to arrive.