Several officials were found to have “colluded” with the suppliers of the “spurious” medical supplies, said sources at the ACB.
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The Anti-Corruption Branch has registered an FIR against three suppliers for selling substandard medical equipment to six Delhi government-run hospitals. The FIR was registered on January 5 based on a complaint by the Deputy Secretary (Vigilance) of the Health and Welfare Department, Raj Kumar, the previous day.
Health Department officials and doctors of the six hospitals — Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital, and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital — were questioned as part of the probe, sources said. They added that several officials were found to have “colluded” with the suppliers of the “spurious” medical supplies.
In response, the Delhi government, in a statement on Tuesday, said, “All the substandard items were bought from the Central government portal — GeM [Government e Marketplace].”
It added that as per rules, government departments have to buy products from GeM only, except in cases where the items are unavailable on the portal, in which case they can be purchased from the open market.
“It is surprising that the Central government is allowing vendors that are giving substandard products on its portal,” the statement added.