Silence of Commissioner, Director Health Services on massive financial frauds in Poonch shows something fishy behind the curtains; Hundreds of crores looted in the health department Poonch

Silence of Commissioner, Director Health Services on massive financial frauds in Poonch shows something fishy behind the curtains; Hundreds of crores looted in the health department Poonch

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: Despite fully knowing the horrible state of affairs in the health department in Poonch as far as huge financial frauds under different schemes are concerned, the silence of the commissioner/secretary and director of health services shows that the system from top to bottom in the department is totally involved in scripting massive financial frauds which run in hundreds of crores. Successive CMOs and medical superintendents of Raja Sukhdev Hospital, Poonch, in addition to some tainted BMOs and blue-eyed employees who managed ‘Malaidaar’ posts for years, gave a major blow to the government exchequer.

As far as providing health services to the people is concerned, the department has a poor track record, with many death cases reported from the hospital on account of doctors’ negligence. Allotment of tenders to private security firms, illegal attachment of vehicles to the department, fake purchasing scam which runs in several crores, fake GEM purchasing of various equipment, store medicines scam, illegal attachment of staff under NHM, heavy illegal income from registration of health laboratories and fake disability certificates – the list of frauds is endless, but the Commissioner/Secretary of Health, MD NHM and Director of Health Services have maintained a questionable silence for years, and this is a clear indication that some important officers used to get their share from various funds which are meant for strengthening the health care services on the ground. The state of affairs in the Raja Sukhjdev Singh Hospital and SDH Mandi, Surankote and Mendhar is so terrible that these important hospitals at the district and tehsil levels are considered as first aid and referrer hospitals. Moreover, the internal setting of doctors with the private healthcare institutions shows that nobody is bothered about the health of ailing patients, as business concerns are the only agenda of all the top officers of the Poonch health department. These days, a new practice has announced its arrival in the district, and under this practice, a number of top employees of the department, in connivance with some private players, have managed to allow the entry of Kashmir-based doctors in the Poonch health sector. As a result, a number of private nursing homes have been opened without any verification from the government. It clearly shows that a few people have taken everything for granted and are playing with the health of the poor people of Poonch by offering them various health care services. It’s a new scam in the making in which many stakeholders are involved.  As the main concern of the CMO, BMOs and Medical Superintendent of Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital is to fetch money by any means, the healthcare concerns of the innocent and poor people are the least bothered by them. During the last few years, those holding important posts in the department looted the government exchequer on fraud bills under different schemes, but not a single inquiry was ordered by the government against the tainted officials of the department. The nexus in the department is so deep that it starts from the top offices of the department to the district level, and the share goes to all through some blue-eyed agents who never attended their duties regularly but are doing the job of circulating the commission to the top officers of the department. Such touts in the department also get two and a half days’ additional salary, but for years, they never attended their routine duties. The whole department is in a mess, and the CMO Poonch, Medical Superintendent Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch, some BMOs and a few blue-eyed lower-rung officials have taken everything for granted as a result; a huge blow was given to the government exchequer. Although the entire health department, from the bottom to the top level, is involved in this issue, the responsibility falls on Chief Minister LG Manoj Sinha to initiate a high-level inquiry into the massive embezzlement of government funds amounting to hundreds of crores under various schemes of the Poonch health department, in order to hold accountable those who abused their official positions for personal financial gain through illegal means.