Fight for kickbacks delayed payment to oxygen supplier
GORAKHPUR: Some officials allegedly fought for their share in kickbacks and delayed payment to the oxygen supplier though the state government released funds on August 5, Gorakhpur medical college sources alleged.
The unseemly fight led to the situation where oxygen supply to the BRD Medical College was affected, leading to the death of at least 33 children in 48 hours, the sources added.
A senior health department official, who did not wish to be named, said, “The state government had released ₹4 crore for the BRD Medical College after the state assembly passed the annual budget in the last week of July. Yet the payment to the oxygen and instruments supplier had not been cleared. The officers were busy negotiating their cuts with the companies. Even the blacklisted companies were given tender to supply medicine, instruments, oxygen and other materials to the medical college.”
In fact, this is not an isolated incident. The medical college is yet to clear the arrears for the equipment purchased last year. The construction of wards and intensive care units in the medical college was delayed, allegedly due to corruption.
Recently, air conditioners installed in the hospital stopped working. There was a medicine crisis too. Though the patients, suffered no action was taken against the officers.
The officials took it for granted that the company will not stop supply of oxygen due to its agreement with the medical college. A clause in the agreement said after ₹10 lakh arrears, the company could stop the oxygen supply to the medical college.
Former head of paediatrics department, BRD Medical College, Dr YD Singh said, “People are aware of corruption in the medical college. The patients are a harassed lot as officers are busy in cuts rather than caring for patients.”
BJP MLA from Gorakhpur Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal said, “The time has come for the state government to crack down on corrupt officers. I have urged the CM to take strict action against officers responsible for the death of childrem.”
Owing to their alleged preoccupation with kickbacks, the officials allegedly kept chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the dark over the payment issue.
The CM visited Gorakhpur on August 9 and held a meeting with medical education and medical college officers over the strengthening of the health facilities in the hospital.
He remained on the college campus for four hours but none of the officers drew his attention to the payment of arrears to the oxygen supplier.
The government swung into action only after children started dying due to the oxygen crisis in the hospital that the arrears of ₹69 lakh were credited into the company’s account. The oxygen supplier had earlier sent several reminders for the release of this amount which was pending since November 2016.
The arrears were cleared on August 11 only after the media highlighted the deaths.
The senior district administration officers ignored the crisis even as they were aware of the emergency situation in the medical college.
During their press conference in Gorakhpur, health minister Siddharth Nath Singh and medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon said, “The state government will inquire into the delay in payment of bill to the companies even after the state government had released the budget.”
The family members of the victim were hoping for strict action against top health and district administration officers but only the suspension of the medical college principal was announced.