The state government and the Mill Owners' Association are two of the three partners in the hospital trust, while the ESI Corporation has been solely funding the day-to-day activities for the past three years. Every month the 700-bedded hospital receives Rs 60 lakh of which Rs 42 lakh is spent on the wage bill of 800-odd employees, the rest on establishment costs.

With about 70 per cent of funds going into paying wages, the hospital has little left to cater to the patients' demands, say doctors. No effort has been made to increase the allocation over the years. As a result, there are no funds to undertake repair work ofequipment, or to buy medicines, including life-saving drugs.

The grave situation was exposed three months ago with the death of Dr Amrut Shastri, casualty medical officer on duty, who suffered a heart attack. The hospital's ICU did not have the necessary equipment to save him, and by the time he was shifted to KEM Hospital, Dr Shastri had died.

Soon after -- on September 15 -- the ESI Corporation, headquartered in Delhi, sent a Joint Parliamentary Committee to Mumbai to inspect the hospital. However, no action followed the panel's visit.

If anything, the situation has only worsened. The hospital's chemist shop has run out of stock -- even IV fluids or saline are in short supply -- forcing patients to buy drugs from outside. Though the hospital is expected to reimburse these bills payment never happens on time, if at all.

The pathology department offers only skeletal services. There are no kits to test blood samples even for routine inspections let alone AIDS or hepatitis. Of the 11 X-ray machines inthe hospital, only one works, and intermittently. Important equipment like the ultrasound and electrocardiograph (ECG) machines, the pulmonary test machine and the physiotherapy equipment are lying defunct. In the ICU, ``Nothing works. There is no expirator, ventilator or anything else. It's like a huge junkyard,'' says a doctor. Even the kitchen doesn't get adequate supplies.

Distilled water eludes patients, who end up drinking water from the toilets, according to a doctor. The only time there was a flurry of activity was when the panel came down from Delhi, say doctors. The buildings were whitewashed and the defunct equipment kept under lock and key. As soon as the panel left, things were back to `normal'.

There are allegations that the ESI Corporation has been reluctant to release funds and it is trying to close down the hospital after the Mill Owners' Association opposed a proposal to lease out a portion of MGM Hospital premises to Tata Memorial Hospital.

``The Tata Hospital authorities asked for a10-year lease which couldn't be allowed,'' said a trustee, adding that such permission would have amounted to giving the Tatas tenancy rights to the ESI premises.

Medical Superintendent of MGM, Dr A M Patil, denied the ESI Corporation was trying to close the hospital down. ``There is a proposal to set up a preventive oncology department in collaboration with the Tata Hospital on the second floor of MGM Hospital,'' adding that this would only benefit the ESI patients. ``As there are around 200 beds lying vacant in the hospital, we thought we could let Tata Hospital use those,'' he said. Patil denied there is a shortage of funds or equipment at MGM hospital. ``Everything we have is functioning well,'' he claimed, adding that the doctor's death was not due to lack of equipment. The Parliamentary committee had come down only on a routine inspection, he said.