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Vigilance questions technical, purchase committees in Himachal medical equipment scam
Documents related to health department purchases since January seized but focus is on deals made in March, particularly after the Covid-19 outbreak
SHIMLA: The state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau has expanded its probe into the irregularities in the purchase of medical equipments in the health department.
The special investigation unit, led by superintendent of police Shalini Agnihotri, is looking into the role of the technical and purchase committees constituted by the health department for making purchases during the tenure of former director, health services, Dr Ajay Kumar Gupta.
Gupta was arrested on May 20 after an audio clip of his conversation with a dealer surfaced on social media in which he was heard seeking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh. The vigilance verified the authenticity of the clip and a preliminary probe suggested Gupta was involved in irregularities in the purchase of medical supplies and equipment.
The vigilance has taken into possession documents pertaining to purchases made by the department since January 2020. “But the focus is on purchases made in March, particularly after the Covid-19 outbreak,” an investigator said, requesting anonymity.
In April, the directorate of health services bought personal protective equipment (PPE), the safety gear required to protect health workers from exposure to novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
PPE KITS BOUGHT IN TWO PHASES
Unlike other states, Himachal Pradesh does not have a specialised medical purchase corporation. A technical committee headed by Gupta was assigned the task of buying medical equipment for health workers on frontline duty. Usually, the equipment is bought by medical officers at the district level but the government authorised the health directorate to make purchases.
In view of the health emergency due to the pandemic, the department bought PPE kits in two phases. The first set of 6,000 PPE kits was bought from a Chandigarh-based company for Rs 84 lakh. Each kit was bought for Rs 1,400.
The state bought another 7,000 PPE kits from a Kurukshetra-based corporation for Rs 1,050 per piece and the total order amounted to Rs 73.5 lakh.
The state had released an expression of interest letter on April 21 only to scrap it.
FORENSIC REPORT IN THREE DAYS
The technical committee comprises four members, including the heads of departments from medical colleges, while the purchase committee includes four experts from the health department.
“The vigilance department has questioned the members,” a health department official said.
The vigilance department seized the mobile phones of Dr Ajay Gupta and liaison officer Prithvi Singh of a Punjab-based medical supplier. Prithvi Singh had worked for a diagnostic laboratory in Solan, owned by relatives of former state BJP president Rajeev Bindal.
Bindal stepped down after his name was dragged into the scam. The vigilance is awaiting the report from the forensic laboratory on the voice samples of the both Ajay Gupta and Prithvi Singh. The state forensic science laboratory in Junga is likely to submit its report within three days.
