Bengal minister alleges 'large-scale fraud' in health scheme under Mamata Banerjee's TMC regime

Mukherjee said the BJP government has initiated a forensic audit to establish the extent of the "financial irregularities" and is also examining the database.

Alleging large-scale financial irregularities in West Bengal's health insurance scheme during the previous TMC regime, Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said the BJP government has detected "corruption to the tune of ₹25-30 crore", with millions of beneficiary cards found to be "fake and untraceable".

Officials are verifying beneficiary records under West Bengal’s Swasthya Sathi health scheme after the health minister alleged large-scale fraud. (AP)

The "discrepancies" in the 'Swasthya Sathi' scheme came to light as the government began scrutinising its database, while preparing to facilitate coverage for eligible beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat and the state's 'Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana', he said.

Mukherjee claimed that the previous government had been spending around ₹30 crore annually on insurance premiums linked to cards whose beneficiaries could not be verified.

"… We are already seeing corruption to the tune of ₹25-30 crore. This is not a T20 cricket match, so it will take time. Gradually, you will see how much more information comes out," the minister said on Friday.

It is only the "tip of the iceberg of corruption", he asserted.

Mukherjee said the BJP government has initiated a forensic audit to establish the extent of the "financial irregularities" and is also examining the scheme's database.

He also said "discrepancies" have been detected during verification of beneficiaries under the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme of the previous TMC government.