Tripura govt orders probe into misuse of funds in procuring COVID-19 test kits

Agartala, Apr 25 () The Tripura government hasordered a probe into an alleged misappropriation of funds forpurchasing COVID-19 test kits and other materials under theNational Health Mission (NHM) and removed two officials for an"impartial enquiry", a minister said on Saturday.

State finance secretary Tanushree Debbarma and urbandevelopment department's secretary Kiran Gitte have been askedto enquire into the misuse of the resources, and submit areport at the earliest, state law minister Ratan Lal Nathsaid.

"Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has ordered anenquiry into the matter after former health minister and BJPMLA Sudip Roy Barman wrote to him, alleging that thegovernment's fund was misused in procuring COVID-19 kits,"Nath said.

State health secretary Dr Debashish Basu and NHMdirector Aditi Majumder were removed from their present postsfor an "unbiased and impartial enquiry", he said.

Roy Barman alleged that bottles of hand sanitiser wereprocured at a price, higher than the maximum rate fixed by theCentre.

"...the Centre has fixed the rate of hand sanitiser ina gazette notification as not more than Rs 100 per bottle of200 ml. The prices of other quantities of hand sanitiser shallbe fixed in the proportion of the price.

"NHM Mission director placed an order for 500 ml handsanitiser at Rs 359 including GST, nearly 20 days after thecentral guidelines arrived," Roy Barman alleged in his letter.

According to the government guidelines, the price of a500 ml hand sanitiser should not be higher than Rs 250, hesaid.

Accusing a section of the health department officialsof violating central guidelines for procuring the product, heclaimed that "Rs 5.45 lakh was paid in excess for supply of5,000 such hand sanitiser bottles during the crisis of COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown".

"The orders for coronavirus test kits were placed atRs 2,912 per piece against the price of Rs 1,150 from theprevious order three days back," Roy Barman, who was divestedof the state health department's charge last year, said.

The chief minister is currently holding the healthportfolio as additional charge.

Roy Barman, further, alleged that the healthdepartment has "miserably failed to store and make necessarydata entry of the COVID-19 related stock (mask, soap,sanitiser, hand wash etc.) as received from various governmentagencies, PSUs, private bodies under their CSR activities". JOYBDC BDC