Ranchi: Nearly two weeks after its inauguration, the command and control room at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), the state’s largest govt hospital, is yet to become operational, leaving most of its newly installed CCTV network without active monitoring.Health minister Irfan Ansari inaugurated the facility on July 22. It was set up to monitor feeds from 1,419 CCTV cameras installed across the sprawling campus and strengthen security through round-the-clock surveillance.Hospital officials said the monitoring centre had not started functioning because the private agency that set it up was yet to formally hand it over to Rims. As a result, several areas remain outside active CCTV surveillance, raising safety concerns among doctors, patients and attendants.Sources said cameras had been installed at major entry and exit gates, outpatient departments, the emergency wing, wards, corridors, parking lots, stadium and hostels. The command centre was expected to enable security personnel to spot suspicious activities, intervene promptly and coordinate responses during emergencies. The hospital receives thousands of patients and visitors every day.A junior doctor, requesting anonymity, said the installation of cameras had given staff a sense of security as untoward incidents were reported on the campus from time to time. “Learning that these cameras are not being actively monitored and have merely been installed comes as a shock,” the doctor said.Sudesh Munda, an attendant from Hazaribag, also questioned the effectiveness of the surveillance system. “Rims has CCTV cameras at numerous locations, but only the authorities know how many are functioning properly. A hospital like Rims must have an active surveillance mechanism,” he said.Rims public relations officer Dr Shishir Kumar Mahto said the command centre would become fully operational after the handover process was completed. “The private agency that established the facility has not yet handed it over to the hospital administration,” he said.Mahto added that around 50 existing CCTV cameras at different locations on the campus were functional and their feeds were being monitored round the clock.
