Almost two months after the matter was first flagged, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday asked Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal to refer a case of alleged corruption in a government hospital to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
GTB Hospital case
In a letter to Mr. Baijal, Mr. Jain said the case of corruption in the Health Department had been referred to the Lieutenant-Governor by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on September 11, but after about two months the matter was yet to be sent to the CBI to investigate.
As per the Minister’s note on the matter, which he also sent the L-G, the allegation pertains to the contract for housekeeping services at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital. The contract was awarded to HLL Lifecare Ltd., a Central public sector undertaking, in June 2014 with the approval of then L-G Najeeb Jung in June 2014.
At that time, Delhi was under President’s Rule and there was no elected government. Later, after the government was formed in February 2015, the contract was extended and deployment of workers increased without the consent of the Health Minister, the Cabinet or the L-G, the note read.
‘Illegal benefits’
The contract was then sub-let to another company, Updaters Services Pvt. Ltd, which Mr. Jain said was not allowed under the contract. Alleging collusion between the Health Department officials and the contractor to “draw illegal benefits”, Mr. Jain asked the L-G to refer the matter to the CBI.
“There is no fear of punishment in corrupt officials. People start saying that if there is a case of corruption against an officer that will be stalled by Hon’ble L-G and he will make sure that no investigation is done in such cases [sic],” he wrote.
