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It's been two years since the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, but it now seems that an outstanding amount of Rs 44 lakh is still pending to the Apollo Hospital in Chennai.
Though the AIADMK has claimed that around Rs 6 crore was paid with funds from its treasury, a new submission from the hospital to the Arumughasamy commission says the bill hasn't been settled fully.
The bill for health care services alone is Rs 1.92 crore. Of this, the hospital has charged a consultation fee of Rs 71 lakh. Usage of equipment, such as ventilators, infusion pump and syringe pump has been billed at Rs 7.10 lakh, while medicines from the ward pharmacy cost Rs 38 lakh. The room has been billed at Rs 24 lakh.
Under professional charges, the hospital has charged Rs 92 lakh for services from London-based Dr Richard Beale, who was flown in for treatment. Singapore hospital Mount Elizabeth has meanwhile been paid more than Rs 12 lakh.
In a section titled 'Room rent/Food and Beverages/Engineering service,' the hospital has stated that room rent came up to Rs 1.24 crores (an additional amount from the earlier mentioned Rs 24 lakh).
This according to Apollo's submission was the rent for rooms booked for Jayalalithaa's attenders, party leaders, government staff and others. During the 75 days of her hospitalisation, the AIADMK had booked around 14 rooms, including in the luxury ward and the CCU. And these rooms were occupied for 60-75 days.
It is the food and beverage services billed for Rs 1.17 crore that has caught everyone's eye. This however was not just food for the late chief minister, but for others as well.
The food bill of Secretaries and other government staff ran to Rs 19 lakh. While the document states that Rs 6 crore has been paid by the AIADMK on 15 June 2017, it does not state the source of another payment of Rs 41 lakh on 13 October, 2016.
When The News Minute contacted the AIADMK over the pending payment, sources stated that they were unaware that any amount was yet to be paid.
Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo on 22 September 2016 for 'fever and dehydration.' She was treated by a team of expert doctors from London, AIIMS and Chennai till 5 December, 2016, when she passed away.
(This article is published in an arrangement with The News Minute)
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