Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into alleged fake laboratory tests at the state government-run Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics, The Indian Express reported.
The lieutenant governor’s office has alleged that the Mohalla clinics conducted lakhs of fake pathology and radiology tests on non-existent patients. The payments for these tests were made to private laboratories in the name of referrals as part of the alleged scam, Saxena has alleged.
The national capital has 533 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics that comprise a doctor and paramedical staff. Since January 2023, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has been providing 450 types of medical tests for free to poor patients at these clinics.
The government had hired two private companies to conduct these tests.
The scam runs into hundreds of crores of rupees, at the cost of the poorest of the poor in the national capital, the lieutenant governor’s office has alleged.
This comes after the vigilance and the state health department had conducted an inquiry to look into the laboratory investigations that had been outsourced to private diagnostic companies, reported The Indian Express. The inquiry found that fake, duplicate and non-existent mobile numbers had been used to register patients for laboratory tests.
The inquiry found that payments were made for lakhs of fake tests. Only the digit 0 had been entered for 11,657 mobile numbers belonging to patients.
The vigilance and the state health department also found that while 8,251 mobile numbers were blank, 3,092 patients’ mobile numbers were entered as 9999999999. At least 400 mobile numbers began with the digits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 that are non-existent mobile numbers. In 999 cases, mobile numbers were repeated 15 or more times.
The lieutenant governor’s office has also alleged that some patients were provided medical consultations by unauthorised staff in the absence of doctors.
In September, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that 26 doctors and staff members of Mohalla clinics had been suspended for fake attendance.
Following their suspension, the Delhi government had also ordered an inquiry. This is when the alleged scam had come to light.
On Thursday, Bharadwaj said that it is the duty of the administrative officers in charge of the state health department to ensure that such lapses do not occur.
“Who has appointed the Directorate General of Health Services, Health Secretary,” Bharadwaj said at a press conference. “Those appointed by them [Centre] are part of this scam. And then they are recommending an inquiry. So you are investigating yourself not us.”
Last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre had promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance to create an authority to administer the transfer and posting of bureaucrats serving the Delhi government.
Bharadwaj said that if the alleged scam is running into hundreds of crores of rupees then the Centre should suspend the Delhi health secretary.
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