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Congress sees scam in clearing mobile health units tenders

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress president Subhash Yadav on Wednesday demanded immediate dismissal of State Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi alleging large-scale corruption in clearing tenders to run mobile health units in 80 tribal-dominated blocks of 18 districts.

Addressing a press conference at the PCC headquarters here, Mr. Yadav alleged that there had been “massive corruption” in approving tenders for Deendayal mobile health units in 80 predominantly tribal blocks.

The PCC president circulated copies of official note-sheets purportedly revealing how the lowest tender was sidelined and a higher tender submitted by a Jabalpur-based company was approved for Seoni district. Mr. Yadav alleged that the approval granted to the second-lowest tender in this case and the decision to purchase mobile vans from the same-Jabalpur based company “smacks of corruption”.

He went on to point out that once the lowest bidder was selected in a particular case, the same was rejected under the garb of an administrative decision that those already covering 15 per cent of the development blocks under the Deendayal project would be disqualified. The tender notice, circulated among newspersons, does not contain any such condition.

Another serious irregularity, Mr. Yadav said, was the decision to change the terms and conditions for filling the tenders at a later stage. Earlier, only registered societies with three years of relevant experience were eligible to fill the tenders for the mobile health project but at a later stage this condition was changed to allow even companies to compete at the tendering stage.

Mr. Yadav charged that there was no provision for a qualified pharmacist in the mobile health units. This, he added, was essential for conducting necessary tests to diagnose malaria or other serious ailments before treating the patients.

Demanding immediate removal of the Health Minister, the Congress leader said the PCC would be forced to refer the matter to the Lokayukta for investigation after 15 days if the Government fails to order a probe into this case.

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