Health minister admitted irregularities, says matter is being probed
Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday alleged that there was a '297-crore scam underway within the state health department regarding the purchase of medicines.
He claimed that various medicines that are used only in super-speciality hospitals were being purchased in bulk from the state while tender notices of their purchase were published in the newspaper The Shillong Times. While replying to Mr Munde’s accusations, health minister Dr Deepak Sawant admitted that there have been irregularities in the purchase of such medicines. He also said that he has already ordered inquires into the matter.
The health minister also said that the value of the medicines that were being sold or purchased illegally was '40 crore and not '297 crore, as was claimed by the Opposition leader.
“If any irregularity is discovered in the primary inquiry, the anti-corruption bureau will be asked to investigate the matter and the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s investigation will be monitored by a retired judge, as is suggested by the Opposition leader,” Dr Sawant said.
He further announced that director of health services Dr Satish Pawar has been suspended and Dr Sahay would complete the inquiry within 30 days.
The minister also clarified that the purchases were made at the secretary level and he did not approve the transactions.
In response to this, Mr Munde said that he is not leveling any allegations against the health minister, but insisted that if the government does not act against the culprits then the minister will also come under attack.
Earlier, Mr Munde had alleged that several unnecessary purchases of medicines were made by the health department and also produced documents to support his claims.
He said that drugs used as the last line of treatment in ailments like diabetes and typhoid were purchased and supplied to areas where there are no doctors available. He also produced letters written by district level officers of health department saying that medicines were dumped on them even when they had not placed any requirements.
“A tender notice for the medicines was published in The Shillong Times. The minister must specify which pharmaceutical company is there in Shillong. The terms of tenders were tweaked to benefit particular companies. Medicines that were not even required were purchased,” Mr Munde said.
Defending himself, Dr Sawant said that even though he had admitted the allegations made by the Opposition leader, the purchases were made according to the procedure put in place by his predecessor Dr Suresh Shetty of Congress in 2011 and the officials had taken advantage of loopholes in the procedure.
