Expensive medicines, missing files… ₹650 crore scam in Delhi hospitals.
New Delhi: A scam worth over ₹650 crore in the procurement of medicines and medical equipment in Delhi’s government hospitals has come to light. Large-scale wrongdoings have been committed in the procurement of medicines, medical equipment, patient bed sheets, X-ray machines, and anaesthesia-related equipment for government hospitals. The ACB is now investigating this matter. As per joint directions of the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister, the ACB has registered an FIR under various sections of the anti-corruption law.
It is alleged that several medical items were deliberately purchased at prices far exceeding from the prevailing market rates, thereby causing a direct loss of crores of rupees to the public treasury. Officials are also accused of issuing dubious and arbitrary tenders by misusing the centralized procurement system. The matter came to exposure when a team from the Vigilance Department conducted raids on the offices associated with this procurement. During this period, files related to several important tenders were found to be missing. Not only that, when the investigation team had opened the lockers of the suspected officials, several important documents were found missing from there as well. Some officials are also accused of appointing individuals of their choice to offer the positions in order to influence the entire procurement system. Furthermore, tenders that had previously been put on hold were subsequently approved with sudden cleared away, further made the suspicion even stronger.
To address the seriousness of this scam and prevent the investigation from being compromised, the administration recently transferred around 40 doctors and staff members, including senior officials from the Health Department. The ACB team is now in constant action on the matter and questioning the suspected officials and doctors. The investigative agency has issued notices to approximately 10 doctors, 35 employees, and outsourced staff to join the investigation.
