Facing the heat for removal of whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi from the chief vigilance officer’s post of the AIIMS, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said all systems in the country’s central hospitals have been placed under critical review to end “systemic and symptomatic” corruption.
“In my first 90 days in office, hardly a day passed without my inquiring into the transparency of the Ministry and its outposts. Very soon, the results will be in public domain,” he said in a statement here.
The Minister said that shortly after assuming office, he had inspected all central hospitals in New Delhi, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
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He claimed that there were many aspects to corruption in hospitals which as a medico he knew of. “If money is made in the allocation of beds or as kickbacks from suppliers, it is sleaze. What is equally corrupt is the silent practice of reserving beds and facilities for employees or VIPs. I intend rectifying both these forms of corruption,” he said.
Defending the “re-profiling” of Mr. Chaturvedi, a Deputy Secretary posted at the AIIMS, the Minister said: “Mr Chaturvedi’s designation as CVO was opposed by the Central Vigilance Commission in 2012 and 2013. Disregarding the CVC’s directives was part of a design to weaken the institution. In 2011, the then government had tried to demolish public faith in the CVC by appointing a tainted bureaucrat as its head. This appointment had been struck down by the Supreme Court. I therefore did my bit to restore the image of the CVC.”