To revitalise the laggard health facilities in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has finally embarked upon a plan to usher in public-private partnership (PPP) in the sector.
UP has invited private partners to operate existing district hospitals and community health centres (CHCs) over a period of 33 years.
The private partner will upgrade the hospitals and CHCs to bring them at par with the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS). In this regard, a pre-bid conference was held in Lucknow on December 20.
“The response was good from the prospective private partners at the pre-bid meeting,” an official told Business Standard.
While the health and family welfare department has invited Request for Qualification (RfQ), the initiative is being spearheaded by State Innovations for Family Planning Services Agency (SIFPSA).
Since the recent PPP attempts in other sectors, including power, sugar, transport and tourism have met with rather lukewarm response, the officials are tightlipped about the details of the proposed PPP venture.
“We have selected 150-300 bed hospital and some CHCs each in about 12 districts for the purpose,” the official informed.
The government may invite bids in clusters in one or more districts or a single package in one district depending upon the response.
All registered hospitals operating with 100 beds, having minimum Rs 15 crore average annual turnover in last three yrs and minimum worth of Rs 5 crore are eligible to apply. The last date for submission of RfQs is December 29.
