E-Paper
Expired kits case: GMCH-32 reinstates 5 medical lab technicians after protest
GMCH issued reinstatement orders on the condition that if the ongoing investigation finds them culpable, they will face termination
Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, on Wednesday reinstated the services of five outsourced medical lab technicians (MLTs), who were terminated from their positions in the genetics department on August 4 in connection with the expiry kits case.
Earlier in the day, GMCH Employees and Workers Joint Action Committee staged a protest on the hospital premises at 1 pm. Thereafter, the administration gave assurance of reinstatement of the terminated employees and later issued the orders regarding the same on the condition that if the ongoing investigation finds them culpable, they will face termination.
Sukhbir Singh, president of GMCH Joint Action Committee said, “The hospital administration itself is admitting that the investigation has not been completed, then on what basis the employees were fired. The committee demands vigilance inquiry into the matter.”
According to outsourced workers, employees who were blamed in the expiry kits case were not even posted in the hospital at the time of procurement of the kits. The workers also alleged that the hospital administration was trying to protect its regular employees in the case and hence, fired the MLTs.
Sudhir K Garg, medical superintendent and the head of the genetics department, GMCH, said the investigation into the matter was ongoing. The employees implicated in this case had been called for explanations, he added.
The case regarding the expired kits dates back to 2010-2015. In 2022, health secretary Yashpal Garg requested a report on the matter, but no subsequent actions were observed. In 2023, when the files reopened, action was taken against the MLTs.
In response to a right to information (RTI) application filed in December 2021, GMCH revealed that a cumulative count of 45,056 medical tests from 2016 to 2021 were performed using the expired test kits. With each kit having the capacity to conduct approximately 90 tests over 500 such kits were utilised on a total of 8,736 pregnant women and 35,320 newborns.
Among pregnant women, 4,782 dual tests and 3,954 triple tests were carried out. Additionally, newborns were tested using these expired kits, with a total of 17,600 Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) tests and 18,720 congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) tests administered.
