Top Delhi ex-health official in ACB net in medical procurement scam
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, a senior officer formerly associated with the Directorate General of Health Services, in a corruption case. . .
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, a senior officer formerly associated with the Directorate General of Health Services, in a corruption case linked to medicine and medical equipment procurement. The arrest follows a probe into alleged irregularities in purchases made by the Central Procurement Agency (CPA), where Dr Ranga served as head of office. Sources indicated that over 100 doctors and officers could end up under scrutiny. More than 20 doctors have already been questioned. The investigation spans multiple committees involved in the procurement process, including the Specifications Committee, GeM Bid Formation Committee, Pre-Qualification Evaluation Committee, Technical Evaluation Committee, Price Bid Evaluation Committee and Justification Committee. These panels comprised heads of departments, senior specialists, professors, associate professors and junior faculty members from government hospitals and medical colleges. A complaint from the Directorate of Vigilance alleged that certain public servants and private individuals entered into a criminal conspiracy to manipulate procurement procedures, tender conditions and technical specifications to favour selected firms and suppliers, causing huge loss to the government exchequer. According to investigators, the irregularities involved the procurement of portable X-ray machines, bed sheets and linen items, radiological equipment, anaesthesia workstations, oral rehydration solution (ORS), surgical consumables and medicines at highly inflated rates.