POONCH TODAY IMPACT: Remained in the news for multiple wrongdoings; NHM gets a new MD; Violation of rules, no accountability at all

POONCH TODAY IMPACT: Remained in the news for multiple wrongdoings; NHM gets a new MD; Violation of rules, no accountability at all

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH/JAMMU: On October 16, 2023, “POONCH TODAY” published a story that the NHM directorate was working without a regular MD, and the Commissioner/Secretary Health has failed to set in order the affairs of his department, particularly in the NHM directorate.

Acting on that story, a new JKAS MD was posted by the government a few days ago, not an IAS one.  Former DC Reasi has been given the new assignment as MD NHM. It is pertinent to mention here that the National Health Mission was set up by the government of India to provide accessible and quality health care services to all, but due to the presence of tainted forces in the NHM directorate Jammu,  this scheme has become a money-making scheme for the vested interests who are running the state of affairs of NHM in the J&K. Sources in the health department working at some important level at the helm of affairs told “POONCH TODAY”, pleading anonymity, that scripting big financial scams has become a continuous routine in the NHM Directorate, Jammu. Many blue-eyed private firms related to medical items used to get financial benefits by forming good relations with those posted at important places in the health department. Those sitting at important places used to get handsome favours under various schemes. The post of M.D. NHM remained with the Commissioner/Secretary Health for four months, who deliberately maintained a questionable silence on the list of frauds, which has become a regular routine in the HHM directorate. However, after being reported exclusively by “POONCH TODAY”, the government provided a new MD to the NHM directorate. NHM has been going through a horrible state of affairs, as nothing moves without paying a heavy share to those at the helm of affairs. In NHM, many employees who were recruited for a specific purpose as per their job profiles are seen doing other activities. Even blue-eyed NHM employees were transferred, by violating the policy, from one place to another by those sitting in the NHM directorate in Jammu. Some NHM employees are used to being associated with non-government activities during working hours, and it clearly shows that rules are being violated openly.  Many private firms used to get maximum work, and it raises a big question mark about the workings of the top officers in the department. Even at different levels, earning money through foul means has become the primary agenda of many tainted employees. A few companies whose main responsibility is to provide health care services to the people of far-flung areas used to get their bills cleared by showing their performance on paper. In return, those sitting at the NHM directorate, after hand-in-glove acts, pass the bills in favor of such companies. Under Teleradiology and 108 ambulance services, questionable bills without verifying the facts on the ground were cleared, and it shows a high-level nexus is operating within the NHM directorate. FA&CO has been working in the said directorate for more than four years now, and this is also a big question mark in the office of Commissioner/Secretary Health. Blue-eyed companies used to get tenders extended in their favours. There are a lot of financial frauds under the IEC and printing, as rules were violated time and again with the sole agenda of earning money. Under IEC activities, blue-eyed people got huge benefits, and the whole process remained under a big question mark. There is also a big scam in the purchases of items and medicines, as the majority of such activities were initiated without the proper procedure of purchase committee members. There are also reports that some MDs in the past were involved in violations of various rules; as a result, a huge blow was given to the government’s exchequer. Under various schemes of NHM, huge frauds were scripted at the directorate level, but the successive MDs deliberately maintained a criminal silence, a reason best known to them. Highly placed sources within the NHM Directorate told “POONCH TODAY” that a very big nexus is operating within the department and nobody can break it as a few high-level officers, medical companies, and some invisible forces are part and parcel of this nexus, which runs in crores. They further said that many CMOs and medical superintendents at the district level also remained a part of this nexus over the years. Will the new MD order an inquiry into the reasons to find out why no tenders were floated related to printing, the purchase of computers and laptops, data operators, or vehicle tenders, or will she also sail in the same boast of his predecessors of indulge in foul plays? Will the anti-graft agencies look into the matter of gross financial irregularities in the NHM Directorate, or will the top officers of the health department continue to enjoy their misuse of powers by earning heavily through various NHM schemes? People hope that the government of the day will look into the matter because it’s a question of taxpayer money as the NHM directorate has become an institution of multiple wrongdoings and there is no accountability at all.