New Delhi:
The probe into the Commonwealth Games scam brings out new revelations everyday.
The recent revelation has put the Delhi Health Department in trouble. The Comptroller and Auditor General's interim report on medical purchases for the Commonwealth Games says that the Delhi Health Department bought equipment worth crores of rupees for the Games.
Many of these purchases were undertaken by flouting norms and at rates much higher than the market prices. The report, a copy of which is exclusively with NDTV, shows how even doctors falsified documents to show equipment which may not have even arrived.
Many believe that this may just be a scratch on the surface.
A copy of the CAG interim report shows how 68 ice machines for treating sports injuries were bought at a cost higher than the maximum retail price, leading to a loss of over Rs 23 lakh.
The Directorate of Health Services of Delhi government and Lok Nayak hospital bought medical equipment of more than Rs 6 crore against all norms, without an open tender.
The report says the Director of Health Services waited till the end so that he could justify the purchases without a tender as a last-minute decision.
Eleven firms failed to deliver medical equipment worth Rs 4 lakh but no action was taken against them.
Incredibly, most of this equipment came after the Games were over. Some of it like emergency trolley beds and ICU beds are yet to be installed.
The Rs 5 crore emergency block for sportspersons at Delhi's Govind Ballabh Pant hospital was completed a month after the Games. The report says a team of doctors gave false documents to hide the real date of completion.
Before the Games NDTV had carried out an expose, as to how the Director of Health Services was going to buy medical equipment at five times the cost.
After NDTV's report that purchase was stopped and is right now being probed by the CVC and CBI. So far, no one has been charged or arrested for making these medical purchases.