Jammu

With a nearly 40 crore annual budget, tainted health department officials looted the government exchequer under different schemes; M.S. legalises corruption; operation theatre has become a toll plaza, clerical staff not shifted for years

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Published on

December 1, 2025

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: Showing a big thumb to the Commissioner/Secretary Health, M.D. NHM, and Director of Health Services Jammu, the tainted officials of the health department Poonch looted huge funds in crores over the years under the different schemes, and the same practice of looting funds was still going on under different heads. Right from Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch to the offices of CMO, Dy. CMO, BMO Mandi, BMO Surankote, and BMO Mendhar, massive murder of government funds has taken place in the name of purchasing and other NHM schemes, as those who were holding important postings never spared funds whenever they got an opportunity.

Illegal attachments and transfers of blue-eyed employees, even under NHM, remained a routine exercise. In a complete mockery of the horrible state of affairs in the department, a junior ophthalmology technician posted at DH Poonch was detailed on duty at SDH Mandi vide Director Health Services Jammu’s order no. DHD/J/Es-7/1656-57 dated 29-04-2025 and directed by the CMO Poonch, Dr. Parvaiz Ahmed, to report at SDH Mandi vide no. CMOP/744-47 dated 03-05-2025, but the said official had shown the thumb to the order of the CMO despite being relieved by the CMO office. The said employee was looking after disability certificates and was indulging in huge malpractices. Despite being directed to join SDH Mandi, he was still doing the same job of distributing the disability certificates even to undeserving persons in lieu of hefty money. On several occasions, the District Social Welfare Officer of Poonch requested verification of certain disability cases, but the employee in question consistently ignored the requests and continued to issue disability certificates to individuals with minor disabilities while charging exorbitant fees for each case. The clerical staff of the department were not shifted for long, as some cashiers have become so powerful in the department that nothing moves without their consent, and they remain the major players in various big frauds. Moreover, two MTS were dealing with the said section, and one MTS was holding the ID of the CMO office, and it sounds ridiculous that an MTS was looking after sensitive issues. Moreover, an employee who was a senior assistant at PHC Bhatadurian was directed to join the CMO office as punishment vide order no. CMO/P/9018-20 dated 04-03-2025 for unauthorised absence of duties. Shockingly, at the CMO office, he was given the charge of cashier in the Dy. CMO office in gross violation of service rules. It’s a complete mockery of the system in the health department that an employee, who was directed to join at the CMO office for unauthorised absence of duties, was given the sensitive charge of looking after cash in the office of Dy.CMO and was involved in the open withdrawal of funds on false bills. The CMO office has become a fish market where anything is possible in lieu of hefty money. The work of the conference hall, which was executed last year by spending huge sums of rupees, is now in a deteriorating state, raising a big question mark on the office of CMO Poonch. The picture of the bad condition of the conference hall despite spending huge amounts in several lakhs shows that the officers only believe in looting government funds by any means. In the same conference hall, all the furniture was repaired, but the tainted officials withdrew the bill for the newly purchased furniture, and it’s a clear indication that looting the government exchequer is the main motto of those important employees of the health department who have been holding important assignments from district to block levels. In the Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch, the tainted officials and top officers for years looted massive funds in the name of fake purchases through GEM and made payments in an offline mode in several crores. The HDF funds were also used for looting purposes on fake bills. If this is the present-day condition of looting government funds openly, imagine what the condition of massive loot of NHM funds during the last ten years would be in addition to looting funds from NHM recruitments by murdering the merit. The Medical Superintendent Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital has legalised corruption in the institution, as with his full support, the operation theatre has become a toll plaza where every patient has to pay something to the staff inside the theatre premises. The said officer was also seen in a viral video taking money from the patients, and it clearly shows what the state of affairs of Poonch Hospital is. From NHM to HDF, the health department’s budget is nearly 40 crore annually, and it is a complete indication of how the offices of the Chief Medical Officer, Dy. CMO office, Medical Superintendent Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch, all three BMOs of Mendhar, Surankote, and Mandi, and blue-eyed employees holding important assignments looted the funds in several crores during the last ten years, but not a single inquiry was initiated against any of the employees over the years. There are some blue-eyed employees whose continuation of duties raises a suspicion, as some of them were terminated in 2019, and how they joined again is still a mystery. Some employees whose postings are still under a big question mark in the department are not ready to show their documents, and it shows that something is fishy, for which a detailed inquiry is needed. The tainted employees and powerful officers who graced top chairs in the department in fact demolished the health care system on the ground, as the funds under different NHM schemes meant for strengthening the health care system on the ground have been swallowed by them. Despite being fully aware of the massive loot in the department, the silence of successive directors, MDs of NHM, and commissioners raised a big question mark on their professional competence. Did they all get hefty commissions from the Poonch-based officers of the health department to remain silent? It’s for the government to detect the real picture by ordering a high-level inquiry, as the tainted health department officials have scripted multiple frauds worth several crores.