More than ₹30 crore illegal in the name of Covid

 BBMP: ₹1.81 crore released for blank bill; ₹10 crore paid for over capacity testing

More than ₹30 crore illegal in the name of Covid

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್ 

 BENGALURU: Irregular expenditure on covid disease control, disease detection test (RTPCR), oxygen cylinders, mosquito control drugs and crores of rupees were paid extra.

 Rate discrepancies and other deficiencies were found in the payment bills for the costs of Covid control. Paid more money than what was fixed by the government. The 2021-22 report of the Auditor General of BBMP revealed that the highest number of irregularities occurred in RTPCR itself.

 The Chief Medical Officer of Public Health, Central Sector, has paid ₹57.23 lakh in 15 DC bills over and above the government's quota for RTPCR tests. Medical staff at Covid care centers are charged more than the maximum per day. In addition, ₹8.59 crore has not been paid to the corporation by the Kidwai organization for providing human resources for RTPCR examination. ₹2.71 crore has also been given more to Molecular Solutions.

 Throat tests conducted by Eurofin and Hybrinomics at 141 primary health centers were paid ₹3.68 lakh more than what was due by the Chief Medical Officer of Public Health, Central Sector. Ambulance vehicles have been assigned by private organizations and objections have been raised regarding the number of vehicles and payment of ₹24.70 lakh, and recovery has been suggested.

 An additional ₹10.23 crore has been paid by the Chief Health Officer to the Newburgh Anand Referral Hospital for carrying out RTPCR tests at a higher capacity than the government budget. In another case, a medical diagnosis center was overcharged by ₹63.65 lakh by conducting more than 5500 tests daily in violation of the commissioner's circular.

₹3.97 crore was paid to Newburgh Anand Referee without mentioning the number of cases related to Covid-19 tests.

 ₹2.53 crore in annual maintenance after installation of gas pipe line system to BBMP Refle Hospital and Maternity Homes. There is no supporting documentation for installation of Benaka Meditech gas pipeline to 14 maternity hospitals.

 The health officer of Yalahanka division has signed the blank bill of the contractor in the mosquito control drug spraying work. ₹.181 crore was released without checking these bills by the health authorities.

 Main objections in health section

•  * In Govindarajanagara Chandralayout Division Health Officer's office, the bills of spraying medicine through petrol powered hand pump are not getting paid.
•  * In the office of the Medical Officer of Health, Mahalakshipuram, medicines and supplies were procured in violation of the Uniform Rate Fixing Order. ₹ 16.89 lakh was paid for supplying food to the infected and the officers on duty, but there were no records of completion.
•  * ₹ 4.99 lakh was charged for car rental and petrol for the days when mosquito control work was not carried out in the office of the Divisional Health Officer of Pulakeshinagar and Sarvajnanagar.
•  * In Shantinagar Division Health Officer's office, ₹47.23 lakh was paid without getting an official bill from Future Planet (OPC) which provided human resource services.
•  * Central Zone Chief Health Officer (Clinical) has paid ₹1 crore to Srinivasa Security Services, a contractor providing security services to hospitals, but there is no record of the services provided.

 Major irregularities in covid calculation

•  ₹22.57 crore; Paying more than the prescribed rate of RTPCR
•  ₹3.97 crore; Payment without mentioning covid test number
•  ₹2.53 crore; Illegal supply of oxygen cylinder
•  ₹1.81 crore; Mosquito repellent spray
•  ₹63.65 lakh; Payment for additional examination against the order of the Commissioner
•  ₹24.70 lakh; Ambulance deployment does not count