‘No Inflated Price Purchases’: Delhi Health Minister Hits Back Against Oppn Allegations
New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said on Thursday that he has sought a report from the Health Secretary by August 17 on the procurement of ORS, bedsheets and pillows, and X-Ray machines, after the opposition alleged lapses in the matter.
“We have asked the Health Secretary to share information on the ORS sachets bought in May for Rs 15 each…which are the 16 lakh bed-sheets bought for hospitals?” the minister told IANS in an interview.
Pankaj Kumar Singh said that, to his knowledge, the ORS sachets were bought for Rs 8.70 each, “but I have asked where the alleged price of Rs 15 per ORS sachet has cropped up”.
“In May, when ORS sachets were being bought at the price of Rs 8.75 each across the country, we bought them at Rs 8.70 each. I have asked the Health Secretary to respond if the ORS sachets have been bought for Rs 15 each,” he said.
“Our objective is public welfare. We want to know which are these so-called irregularities under which ORS sachets have been bought for Rs 15 each. If this is true, then the Health Secretary should explain in his report,” he added.
The Health Minister told IANS that he has asked the Secretary to specify where these bedsheets – normally bought by AIIMS for Rs 400 each – are available for Rs 120 each and which hospitals are using such bedsheets.
About X-ray machines’ procurement, he said: “I have asked the Secretary to tell us if the Rs 33 lakh X-ray machines that we have bought are available for Rs 10 lakh each.”
He said that the official has been asked to confirm if the Rs 10 lakh X-Ray machines being talked about “are of the same specification and company as the Rs 33 lakh machines that we have bought”.
“I have also sought details of the medical equipment that was bought during Covid and dumped without any use,” said the Health Minister.
He said he has also sought details of what action has been taken against the 15 medical equipment and medicine supply companies charged by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in 2024 for irregularities.
Pankaj Kumar Singh said even a court has sought details on the equipment that was bought during the pandemic and dumped without use due to shortage of staff.
He said the Secretary has also been told to respond on who has been found guilty of irregularities in connection with the ACB’s 2024 complaint and what action he or the company has faced.
The Health Minister said those found guilty of irregularities will face action and those who are levelling baseless allegations without any facts or evidence won’t be spared either.
He refused to comment on specific allegations of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that a procurement scam of Rs 650 crore has taken place in the Health Department, saying that the Opposition is in the habit of levelling false allegations and running away without providing any evidence or substantiating their claim.
The AAP legislators recently claimed that ORS sachets and medical instruments, like portable X-ray machines, were purchased at prices inflated by 3-4 times.
(IANS)
