Short on funds, the Ludhiana Civil Hospital is having a hard time maintaining the stock of medicines.

A doctor working at the hospital not wishing to be named said they have been asked to not prescribe medicines that are not in the stock .

The restriction, the doctor pointed out, was coming in the way of ensuring the proper functioning of the out-patient department (OPD).

“I have been working here for years, but in the last couple of months, I have found it hard to see patients, knowing that I cannot prescribe the medicine I think they need,” the doctor said, adding, “We no longer have those drugs.”

The state had earlier in January this year launched a scheme to provide medicines free of cost across government hospitals, following which the facility sent a demand of ₹1.07 crore to procure medicines. However, according to chief procuring officer Raj Kumar Mittal, the hospital had received ₹25 lakh.

The hospital authorities said they had procured 90 non-essential drugs with the funds, and only 50 remain in their stock.

Mittal said the hospital had to use funds from other heads to maintain their stock.

Until 26 January, the government hospitals in the state were providing only 278 kinds of essential drugs. A total of 254 drugs, both essential and non-essential, were added to the list, taking the count to 532.

The funds to buy these medicines, according to civil surgeon Dr Jasbir Singh Aulakh, were to come periodically: “This tranche was only for till March 31.”

He added that he had not received any demand from the hospital regarding the requirement of drugs.

Health minister Dr Balbir Singh, meanwhile, said funds would be given to hospitals again based on their demands and passed the buck to director health Dr Hartinder Kaur, who, when approached, did not respond to calls or texts.