The Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday night suspended 20 doctors for their alleged involvement in the multicrore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam in. Their names were making rounds after the CBI, which is probing the scam, found their involvement in the embezzlement of funds.
Those suspended are 14 superintendents of government hospitals, an additional chief medical officer, three medical officers, a district tuberculosis officer and a district project manager.
The suspension followed a letter sent by the CBI to the Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Sanjay Agarwal, last week seeking permission to prosecute the doctors. Their suspension came after Health Minister Ahmed Hasan gave the green signal.
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Official sources said the permission to prosecute them would be given in a couple of days.
A clerk of the Medical and Health Department and two medical officers were also suspended for their alleged involvement in the scam.
According to sources in the CBI, the charges against the doctors ranged from withdrawing funds for hiring vehicles by producing fake bills, awarding construction contracts to companies in violation of the NRHM norms and committing irregularities in the blindness control programme.
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The former Chief Medical Officer of Lucknow, A.K. Shukla, and Administrative Officer in the Family Welfare Department Indrajeet Yadav were suspended in 2011 after the detection of irregularities in the implementation of the scheme. Dr. Shukla, who was arrested last month, was released on bail last week.