Delhi Government-Run Hospital Raided Over "Sub-Standard Medical Equipment"

An Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) team on Tuesday raided the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital in a case related to alleged supply of sub-standard medical and surgical equipment, officials said.

The team questioned staffers and officials of the hospital, and also seized some documents related to the case, a senior ACB officer said.

The ACB team was at the hospital for around three hours.

Responding to the raid, the Delhi government in a statement said all the "sub-standard items were bought from the central government's portal called GeM (Government e Marketplace)" and added this should be investigated by a central agency such as the CBI.

On January 5, an FIR was registered by the ACB in connection with the alleged supply of sub-standard quality medical and surgical equipment in six Delhi government-run hospitals, including the LNJP Hospital, the officials said.

The case was registered under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, they said When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police, ACB, Madhur Verma confirmed the raid.

The FIR was registered on a complaint from the deputy secretary (vigilance) of the Delhi health and family welfare department.

Medical and surgical equipment supplied by 13 different suppliers were found to have failed the standard quality in lab tests, according to the FIR.

It was stated in the FIR that samples of rolled bandages, absorbent cotton, latex examination gloves and infusion sets were sent for the tests.

These were supplied to LNJP, Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS), Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU), Sanjay Gandhi Memorial, JSS and GTB hospitals, according to the FIR.

In its statement, the Delhi government said all the "sub-standard items were bought from the central government's portal called GeM (Government e Marketplace)".

"The rules of finance have made it mandatory that government departments should buy products from GeM and only if they are not available on GeM, they can be bought from the open market through tenders," the Delhi government said.

It is "surprising" that the central government is allowing such vendors on its portal who are giving sub-standard products, it alleged.

"It is very important that such products are being supplied not just to Delhi government, but also other state governments and the central government. This should be investigated by a central agency like the CBI so that it brings out the truth about GeM," the statement said.

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