Under the first action plan for the medical and economic rehabilitation of the victims of the 1984 MIC gas leak, the construction of the Rs 26.5 crore hospital was completed four years ago and the multi-storey building had since been lying idle. The government had been spending Rs 29,000 per month on its maintenance while paying a monthly bill of Rs one lakh on electricity -- and to no use.

The Rs 188.50-crore first action plan for rehabilitation was launched in 1990 and should have been completed by 1995. On the state government's plea that more funds were needed for completing the incomplete works of the first action plan, the Gujral governmenthad sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 69.50 crore in July-August last year and made it clear that the funds for the second action plan would be released only if all the works of the first action plan were completed by September 30, 1998.

The amount sanctioned by the Gujral government also included funds to equip the hospital with modern gadgets required for the treatment of complex ailments of the victims but it has not been done nor even the doctors and other paramedical staff for the hospital have been appointed so far, the sanctioned strength of the hospital being 354. Only the OPD section of the hospital has been made functional, with most of the staff having been drawn temporarily from other hospitals of the Bhopal gas disaster relief department.

Technically, the inauguration of the hospital may enable the state government to claim the funds for the implementation of the second action plan for the medical and economic rehabilitation of the gas victims. While the gas victims have to struggle foreven the most ordinary of medicines, politicians and bureaucrats have ensured their own rehabilitation with these funds as has been made out in numerous petitions before the Supreme Court and the human rights commission.