The acute shortage of beds in Delhi government hospitals claimed the life of 28-year-old vegetable vendor Vijay Kumar on Sunday. Critically injured in a road accident, Kumar could not get the much-needed ICU care at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital due to lack of beds. SGMH has only four ICU beds, which were all occupied. On Monday, while announcing the Budget, the Delhi government admitted that it had only been able to add 359 beds against the promised 1,200 in the last fiscal. But even as the government has reduced the outlay for health from Rs 927 crore last year to Rs 875 crore, it says that in the coming fiscal it will add 1,000 beds in government-run hospitals in the city. Rs 873 crore has been allocated for the medical and public health sector, which is about nine per cent of the total Plan outlay. Ironically, there are hospitals which are lying ready for the last few years, but are yet to become operational. For example, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital's 140-bedded trauma centre, which has been ready for the past two years, is still waiting for fire clearance and staff. Similarly, the 300-bedded Janakpuri Super Specialty Hospital, which according to the 2006-07 Budget was supposed to be functional by March 2007, is yet to be inaugurated. The most ambitious project of the government in east Delhi, the 650-bed Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital has been in the making for long. According to this year's Budget, the two hospitals will be started on a Public Private Partnership basis. This year's Budget reiterates old promises with revised deadlines. For instance, the much-delayed Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences is likely to be operational from August 2008. "We plan to start most of our pending projects by the end of this year. There is an acute shortage of beds in government hospitals and we are not meeting the WHO requirement due to the patient load we get from other states. Nearly 30 per cent patients that visit Delhi hospitals are from outside,' said Dr Yoganand Shastri, Delhi health minister. The construction of a 750 bed hospital-cum-medical college at Dwarka, which was to start in 2006-07, would start next year. A 60-bed maternity ward at Tibbia College Hospital in Karol Bagh has been commissioned. The government plans to establish the Indian Institute of Public Health at Kanjhawala in Northwest Delhi where 20 per cent seats would be reserved for city students and Delhi government employees. The upgradation of the CATS ambulance fleet, it seems, has got stuck in the initial phase. The upgraded fleet of 450 ambulances was to roll out by March 31, 2008, but it looks very unlikely. The plan to upgrade the fleet to 450 ambulances remains, but at present the number of ambulances has been slashed to 175. toireporter@timesgroup.com