Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) on Friday carried out fresh searches in 30 locations across Uttar Pradesh in connection with the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
The agency officials carried out searches in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh including Lucknow,
Varanasi, Meerut, Behraich and Balia at the residences and
offices of CMOs, shops of drug suppliers among others, CBI
spokesperson Dharini Mishra said.
Four fresh cases were registered by the CBI on Friday connection with alleged embezzlement of funds under National Rural Health Mission by the then Chief Medical Officers in collusion with private drug suppliers to procure sub-standard medicines at exorbitant rates.
"The allegations are of gross irregularities and
manipulation in award of contracts by CMOs to various private
parties. It has been found that there were group of private
parties which were active in number of Districts and through
their influence on public servants procured contracts of huge
amounts in various districts," Mishra said.
CBI has found in its preliminary enquiry that Mission
Directorate of NRHM in Uttar Pradesh had received thousand of
crores of rupees as funds between 2005-11 for running schemes
like Mission Flexipool, Immunization, Reproductive Child
Health (RCH), National Blindness Control Programme etc.
Besides funds for civil construction and upgradation of
hospitals were also received by them.
"The funds under the said scheme were channelled to the
respective District Health Societies of all the districts in
Uttar Pradesh and were utilised by the respective CMOs/ CMO/
Family Welfare). The enquiry carried out so far has indicated
that the drugs/equipments supplied by these firms were at
exorbitant rates and even of sub-standard quality," she said.
The move comes a day after the Lakhimpur Kheri police claimed to have found a suicide note from the official flat of Pasgawan Community Health Centre clerk Mahendra Sharma, whose decomposed body was found on 15 February.
The note, according to the police, held CMO Dr JP Bhargava, deputy CMO Dr Balbir Singh and other officials, responsible for the suicide.
The CBI had also quizzed BSP MLA Ram Prasad Jaiswal and former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha in connection with the NRHM scam last week.
With PTI inputs
