Health minister seeks details of vehicles used, costs

Vijayawada: Minister for medical, health and family welfare Y Satya Kumar Yadav directed officials on Saturday to provide detailed information on vehicles used by the department and the annual expenditure incurred on their operation. The medical and health department, one of the state’s largest with nearly one lakh employees, has faced reports of vehicle shortages in some areas and misuse in others, prompting the minister’s decision.

Government vehicles are currently deployed for official duties at the Secretariat and across 10 key branches of the health department.

Various health and welfare programmes are implemented at the field level under the supervision of 4 zonal offices and 52 district-level officials.

The department manages approximately 1,700 Primary Health Centres (PHCs), 242 secondary hospitals (including district hospitals, area hospitals, and community health centres), 40 medical colleges with affiliated teaching hospitals, and other specialty hospitals, all supported by medical and administrative staff.

Under the National Health Mission (NHM), around 30,000 officers and staff execute approximately 40 health schemes at the grassroots level, necessitating significant vehicle use.

Satya Kumar Yadav instructed officials to submit a report within one week detailing the rules governing vehicle allocation and usage, the total number of government vehicles in use, annual expenditure on these vehicles, department-wise spending (including the Secretariat and other wings), officers assigned vehicles for full-time use, vehicles used for general duties versus field operations, expenditure for the financial years 2023–24 and 2024–25, existing guidelines to prevent vehicle misuse, documented misuse incidents, and actions taken.

He further directed officials to conduct a thorough review of vehicle usage and propose reforms to enhance efficiency and accountability within the department.