Satish Aditya
Motihari : A two-member inquiry team headed by Yogendra Prasad, Additional Director, State Health Society (SHS), Bihar, Patna, on September 11, 2019, visited the office of East Champaran District Health Society (DHS) located on Motihari Sadar Hospital Campus and examined the papers relating to purchase of 117 Android Tablets.
The inquiry team also quizzed District Accounts Manager, District Programme Manager , Dr Anil Sinha, Nodal Officer of the Society and Civil Surgeon, East Champaran. The probe team also visited the shop from where the Tabs were shown to have been purchased but there was no shop there rather it was a residential house.
Deputy Director Yogendra Prasad while talking to mediapersons here said,” We have verified all the documents and places and will submit the report to the Executive Director of State Health Society.”
Manoj Kumar, Executive Director (ED), State Health Society, had ordered a departmental inquiry into alleged irregularities of more than Rs 15 lakh in the name of purchasing of Mobile Tabs meant for 117 Health and Wellness Centers in the East Champaran District. He had constituted a two-member committee headed by Additional Director, SHS, Yogendra Prasad, and asked it to submit report within 15 days. Prasad, through a letter on September 7, 2019, had asked the Civil surgeon, East Champaran, Dr Shakuntala Singh to ensure presence of all district health society officials with relevant documents on September 11, 2019.
Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, State Health Department, taking cognisance of a Hindi newspaper report in this connection had asked Executive Director, SHA, to hold an inquiry into the matter last week. The Tablets were allegedly purchased at a high price compared to the market price of reputed brands without floating any tender.
Nodal Officer, DHS, Dr Anil Kumar Singh, while admitting the irregularities said that the purchase of Tablets was not mentioned in the stock register nor his signatures were taken on them which is mandatory if anything is purchased.
DM is the chairman while Civil Surgeon is the Secretary of District health society (DHS). The DHS had ensured submission of quotation from three firms but instead of minimum quotation,the highest quotation was approved. Instead of Rs 6,000, the City Care firm owner was paid Rs 19,000 against each tabs purchased. The City Care supplied Tabs of eyeball slide star of grey model, the market price of which is Rs 6,239 each. Even Tabs of Samsung is cheaper to what was paid to the supplier City Care. Sachin Kumar, Proprietor of City Care said they had purchased the Tabs Rs 9,500 each and sold it at the rate of Rs 19,000 each to cover warranty.