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Chandigarh: ₹20 lakh supplies meant for pregnant women, newborns pilfered at PGIMER
The supplies were meant to be provided free of cost under the Centre’s Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), which provides pregnant women and sick newborns free services
Medical supplies worth ₹20 lakh, including the costly immunoglobulin injections, meant for pregnant women and sick newborns admitted at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s (PGIMER) obstetrics and gynaecology ward have gone missing after fake demands were allegedly generated through the institute’s online indenting system by a staff member.
An immunoglobulin injection costs anywhere between ₹950 and ₹98,000 depending on the type and dosage.
The supplies were meant to be provided free of cost under the Centre’s Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), which provides pregnant women and sick newborns free services, including delivery, Caesarean section and medicines, at public health institutions.
PGIMER, in an official statement, said the matter came to light after the obstetrics and gynaecology ward repeatedly raised indents for the same costly drug at intervals of two to three days. “Suspecting an unusual and steep rise in the consumption of the drug, the hospital pharmacy contacted the ward concerned and raised an alert. The matter was subsequently investigated, during which an attendant posted in the ward admitted to raising the indents,” the official statement read.
A PGIMER official, in the know of the matter, further said that closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage also purportedly captured the attendant taking the injections from the pharmacy. The injections never reached the patients, the official said, adding that the exact quantity and value of medical supplies pilfered in this manner has not yet been established.
Fact-finding committee on job
The PGIMER statement said that a fact-finding committee has been constituted and the matter has also been reported to the police. “The registration of the daily diary report (DDR)/first information report (FIR) is awaited. Further action will be taken based on the inquiry,” the statement further read.
Last year, a scam involving the alleged misappropriation of over ₹1 crore from the patient welfare grant at the institute had surfaced. The funds were meant for the treatment of poor and critically ill patients, but were allegedly siphoned off over several years through fake bills, forged medical documents and misuse of patient records, including those of deceased patients. The matter is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Following the scam, PGIMER had shifted from physical indenting to online indenting for better transparency.
But with fresh discrepancies emerging despite the shifting to the online system, nursing officials have been directed to maintain stock of expensive drugs and surgical items, and patient-wise utilisation details in registers. They have further been instructed to ensure that the online indenting system is password-protected and only operated by assistant nursing superintendents and senior nursing officers.
PGI nurses welfare association general secretary Satyaveer Singh Dagar, meanwhile, said that indenting is not the work of nursing officials but rather that of ward clerks who have not been appointed. “Nursing officials are already short of staff. Given the existing patient load, indenting is an extra responsibility on our shoulders. Ward clerks need to be appointed for the same and online indenting needs to be done patient wise,” he said.
