23 jan 2012
In 2005, the government launched the National Health Rural Mission Scheme or NHRM. 8000 crores over 6 years sent to UP to provide accessible and affordable health care to the poorest families in remote regions. The state government was to use this money to construct health centres in rural areas and ensure they were stocked with medicines and working equipment.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says that close to 5000 crores has gone missing in UP. The report says that top officials of the Family Welfare Department formed a Programme Management Society to implement and monitor NHRM. The society was never registered and was therefore illegal. Instead of giving money directly to the agencies executing the project, the department always routed it through the Programme Management Society. The society floated false tenders for vehicles that were never bought and medical centres which were never built. A huge amount of money was also stolen from the Purchases Department where all decisions were taken by a single officer, instead of three as required by law.
Four mysterious deaths:
Lucknow In the fourth death of an accused in Uttar Pradesh’s NRHM scam, an assistant engineer with the Construction and Design Services of the state Jal Nigam was found shot in the head at his Lucknow house today morning.
In 2005, the government launched the National Health Rural Mission Scheme or NHRM. 8000 crores over 6 years sent to UP to provide accessible and affordable health care to the poorest families in remote regions. The state government was to use this money to construct health centres in rural areas and ensure they were stocked with medicines and working equipment.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says that close to 5000 crores has gone missing in UP. The report says that top officials of the Family Welfare Department formed a Programme Management Society to implement and monitor NHRM. The society was never registered and was therefore illegal. Instead of giving money directly to the agencies executing the project, the department always routed it through the Programme Management Society. The society floated false tenders for vehicles that were never bought and medical centres which were never built. A huge amount of money was also stolen from the Purchases Department where all decisions were taken by a single officer, instead of three as required by law.
Four mysterious deaths:
- In October 2010, Dr Vinod Arya was shot by a group of men on motorcycles while on his morning walk. He was the Chief Medical Officer for Lucknow in the Family Welfare Department - which meant that he was responsible for implementing the scheme in the district.
- Six months later, the man who took over from him, Dr BP Singh, was also killed near his home by motorcyclists.
- And then in June 2011, Yogendra Singh Sachan, who worked for both the doctors who were murdered, was found dead at a Lucknow jail. The police alleged that Dr Sachan was worried that both his bosses were about to expose the financial crimes he had reportedly helped construct. At first the government said he had committed suicide. Later, injury marks found on his body led to the government acknowledging "mysterious circumstances."
- Today, Sunil Verma, a Project Manager in the UP Jal Nigam, whose home had been raided on January 4, killed himself. Sources close to his family say he had gone into depression over the allegations he confronted.
Upset over raid, UP health scam accused ‘shoots self’
Lucknow In the fourth death of an accused in Uttar Pradesh’s NRHM scam, an assistant engineer with the Construction and Design Services of the state Jal Nigam was found shot in the head at his Lucknow house today morning.
In a “suicide note”, Sunil Kumar Verma said he was upset since the CBI, which is investigating the multi-crore fraud in National Rural Health Mission funds, searched his residence on January 4. He wrote that he hadn’t done anything wrong and nobody in his family or department should be held responsible for his action.
The note was found lying on the drawing room sofa where Verma reportedly shot himself with his licensed revolver. His wife Saroj was in the kitchen at the time. Verma’s son Vishal, who lives on the first floor with his wife and children, said his father had been undergoing treatment for depression for the past two weeks.
The CBI has sought report from the Lucknow police on the matter.
Verma’s colleagues, who were present at the hospital where his body was taken, refused to talk about the matter. Chief Minister Mayawati’s secretary Navneet Sahgal is Chairman of the UP Jal Nigam.
Posted as Project Manager (Technical) in the C&DS office at Gomti Nagar, Verma was an accused in a case of irregularities in the maintenance of 134 hospitals across the state. The case was registered by the CBI in Delhi on January 2.
His co-accused include former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Director of C&DS P K Bhukesh, Chief General Manager Bharat Singh, General Manager P K Jain and project managers B M Srivastava and Katar Singh.
Houses of all of them have been searched and all have been questioned, but only Jain has been arrested.
CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said Verma, who was promoted to his current post two months ago, was questioned during the preliminary inquiry, but not after the case was lodged against him.
CBI sources said Verma was not present in his house at the time of the search when they found some files related to the NRHM. Documents related to the case were also seized from his office the same day.
The agency has reportedly found that Verma was one of the officials involved in taking decisions for procurement of building material, furniture, electrical and electronic goods for 134 hospitals for a contract, worth Rs 13.4 crore, awarded by the State Health Society.
The Jal Nigam sourced the supplies from Ghaziabad-based firm Surgicon Medi Equip Pvt Ltd and Lucknow-based Modern Interiors and Ankur Goods & Parcels. The firms did not fulfill the criteria, and had submitted bogus documents to show that they were eligible, sources said.
Further, the materials supplied to the hospitals were found substandard and the irregularities caused a loss of about Rs 5.46 crore to the exchequer, said sources.
Verma leaves behind his wife and two sons. While Vishal runs a business, son Amit works with TCS in Mumbai.
The note was found lying on the drawing room sofa where Verma reportedly shot himself with his licensed revolver. His wife Saroj was in the kitchen at the time. Verma’s son Vishal, who lives on the first floor with his wife and children, said his father had been undergoing treatment for depression for the past two weeks.
The CBI has sought report from the Lucknow police on the matter.
Verma’s colleagues, who were present at the hospital where his body was taken, refused to talk about the matter. Chief Minister Mayawati’s secretary Navneet Sahgal is Chairman of the UP Jal Nigam.
Posted as Project Manager (Technical) in the C&DS office at Gomti Nagar, Verma was an accused in a case of irregularities in the maintenance of 134 hospitals across the state. The case was registered by the CBI in Delhi on January 2.
His co-accused include former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Director of C&DS P K Bhukesh, Chief General Manager Bharat Singh, General Manager P K Jain and project managers B M Srivastava and Katar Singh.
Houses of all of them have been searched and all have been questioned, but only Jain has been arrested.
CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said Verma, who was promoted to his current post two months ago, was questioned during the preliminary inquiry, but not after the case was lodged against him.
CBI sources said Verma was not present in his house at the time of the search when they found some files related to the NRHM. Documents related to the case were also seized from his office the same day.
The agency has reportedly found that Verma was one of the officials involved in taking decisions for procurement of building material, furniture, electrical and electronic goods for 134 hospitals for a contract, worth Rs 13.4 crore, awarded by the State Health Society.
The Jal Nigam sourced the supplies from Ghaziabad-based firm Surgicon Medi Equip Pvt Ltd and Lucknow-based Modern Interiors and Ankur Goods & Parcels. The firms did not fulfill the criteria, and had submitted bogus documents to show that they were eligible, sources said.
Further, the materials supplied to the hospitals were found substandard and the irregularities caused a loss of about Rs 5.46 crore to the exchequer, said sources.
Verma leaves behind his wife and two sons. While Vishal runs a business, son Amit works with TCS in Mumbai.
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