a day ago
PGI's healing scam survived even on dead patients
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Chandigarh: In a scandal that has sent shockwaves through the corridors of PGIMER, Chandigarh, an internal inquiry has exposed a multi-crore financial fraud involving hospital staff, vendors, and possibly senior officials.
Over Rs 1.14 crore, earmarked for the treatment of impoverished and critically ill patients, was allegedly siphoned off under the guise of government welfare schemes.
The funds—meant to be lifelines for the most vulnerable—came from prestigious sources like the Prime Minister's Office, Ambedkar Foundation, Hans Culture Society, Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), and various NGOs. Instead, they were rerouted into fake accounts, manipulated bills, and ghost patients.
This crucial information has been furnished as part of the PGI's inquiry report, obtained through RTI (a copy of which is with the TOI) by Ashwani Kumar Munjal, chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), PGI.
Munjal pointed out significant flaws in the report, alleging deliberate attempts to shield higher-ranking officers. He revealed the initial resistance faced in accessing the report, saying the CPIO, vigilance cell, initially refused to provide a copy of the enquiry report, citing "frivolous and baseless" pleas, despite a precedent set by a CIC judgment from 2008.
It was only after a first appeal was filed with the chief vigilance officer, PGI, on May 24, that an order was issued to release the report, which was finally received on July 1.
Munjal asserts that the Rs 1.14 crore identified is merely "the tip of the iceberg," as many fake documents used to siphon off money were entered manually, with no online data created for these patients, and the manual files subsequently "lost."
The internal committee, led by Prof Arun Kumar Aggarwal, documented a systematic pattern of fraud spanning from 2017 to 2021. The misappropriated funds were intended to provide critical support to the sickest patients. Preliminary findings indicate that corrupt activities began as early as 2017, with 70 cases of financial irregularities identified in addition to 11 initial ones.
Munjal questions the inexplicable ignorance of officers in the private grant cell or accounts branch, raising "serious doubts" about potential connivance.
Further concerns arise from the delay in constituting the enquiry committee, which took over three months, on Feb 9, 2023, and its shocking six-month inaction before holding its first meeting on Oct 5, 2023. The report offers no explanation for these significant delays.
Adding to the controversy, five accused individuals, including one in the private grant cell, continued working at PGI until the report's finalisation.
One regular officer implicated was even permitted to retire on Dec 31, 2020, despite indications of fraud continuing post-2020.
According to the detailed report, officials and clerical staff transferred funds to fake beneficiaries, manipulated bills, and routed payments without any medical prescriptions or valid patient records. Among the major highlights of the alleged fraud, a staggering Rs 38,00,946 (61.5%) out of Rs 61,75,000 received from Rastriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) was siphoned off.
This included fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 27,66,355 in the names of three deceased patients.
Demands were raised and manual supply orders issued without treating doctors' prescriptions. In a particularly alarming case, Rs 90,000 earmarked for a cancer patient was transferred directly into a hospital attendant's bank account, while further investigations showed that in several cases money continued to be drawn in the name of patients who had already died.
Under the rare diseases scheme alone, Rs 38 lakh meant to provide life-saving treatments was funnelled into vendor accounts without a single doctor's prescription or patient visit being recorded.
The committee also found 70 more cases from Sept 2017 to Oct 2021, totalling Rs 50,11,276, paid to firms without patients even visiting PGI. Funds were released by the accounts branch based on manual supply orders without medical prescriptions or valid patient records.
Furthermore, Rs 19,00,759 was fraudulently withdrawn in 11 cases, transferred to individuals falsely identified as "dependent" relatives or spouses, including PGI staff.
Software data related to these cases mysteriously vanished, and all 11 case files went missing, strongly suggesting "foul play and connivance of higher officers." Another Rs 50 lakh was paid out to pharmaceutical and supply vendors against requests for medicines and treatment supplies which patients never even received or requested.
Bills were found to be deliberately manipulated, with at least one payment of Rs 62,000 made twice under two different patient records.
In total, the enquiry flagged 103 separate cases of financial fraud, while original patient files for at least 37 patients went missing from the private grant cell's records, suggesting systematic evidence destruction.
Among those named in the report are a retired junior administrative assistant, several lower division clerks, a data entry operator, and outside collaborators, including the owner of a medical store and his business partner.
The official spokesperson for PGI confirmed, "The case related to the private grant cell at PGIMER has been formally handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the vigilance department. The CBI has since taken charge, and the investigation is currently in progress. Meanwhile, the directives issued by the vigilance department are being duly implemented by the private grant cell."
Unanswered questions:
Rs 19L transferred to non-beneficiaries | An amount of Rs 19,00,759 was fraudulently withdrawn in 11 cases, with funds transferred to individuals falsely identified as dependents or spouses, including PGI staff.
Software data related to these cases mysteriously vanished, and all 11 case files went missing, strongly suggesting "foul play and connivance of higher officers." Only a fraction (Rs 2,91,839) has been recovered.
Rastriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) siphoned | Out of Rs 61,75,000 received from RAN, a staggering Rs 38,00,946 (61.5%) was siphoned off. This included fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 27,66,355 in the names of three deceased patients.
Demands were raised without treating doctors' prescriptions, and manual supply orders were issued.
Scams in 4 years | 70 more cases of scams from Sept 2017 to Oct 2021, totalling Rs 50,11,276 paid to firms without patients even visiting PGI. The modus operandi involved raising manual supply orders without prescriptions and approval by the incharge private grant cell, with funds released by the accounts branch. Utilisation certificates for 69 cases, with copies of original bills from vendors, were sent to funding agencies, despite the alleged fraud.
