Rs 5,000-cr NRHM scam resurfaces once again

The scam had discredited Mayawati government

The genie of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam in Uttar Pradesh is out of the bottle once again.

The over Rs 5,000-crore NRHM scam had largely discredited the previous Mayawati regime in UP and led to her eventual ouster in the 2012 state elections. NRHM was aimed at improving the health infrastructure and lower mortality rates.

The scam has hogged the limelight yet again with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reportedly bracing itself to question former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati in connection with the case.

The rattled Mayawati has claimed victimisation at the behest of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for political vendetta.

The NRHM scam has so far been blamed for several sensational murders or mysterious death of senior government officials in the state. It has led to the arrest of minister, bureaucrats, government officials, contractors and medicine traders.

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pertaining to the period between April 2005 and March 2011 had detected embezzlement of over Rs 5,000 crore of the total funds allocated to the UP government.

All this while, two chief medical officers (CMO) posted in the family welfare department Vinod Arya and B P Singh were shot dead in broad daylight in Lucknow. Arya was killed in October 2010 and Singh felled to the bullets of miscreants in April 2011.

In June 2011, accused in the twin murders deputy CMO Y S Sachan died in Lucknow district jail under mysterious circumstances. A local contractor Namit Tandon also reportedly tried to commit suicide by jumping before a train after being interrogated by CBI.

In July 2011, the Mayawati government had referred the NRHM case to CAG after chorus of public corruption grew louder. Besides, a petition was also filed in the Allahabad High Court demanding a CBI probe in the case.

In November 2011, the HC directed the CBI to probe the case, while the state government also recommended a CBI probe to stave off criticism. A special team of the central agency has ever since been probing the siphoning of funds disbursed to 72 Chief Medical Officers (CMO) across UP.

Apparently in the light of fresh evidence in the scam, the CBI is seeking to question Mayawati, who was the UP chief minister during 2007-12.

After coming to power in 2007, Mayawati had bifurcated the state health and family welfare department. The health portfolio was allocated to Anant Kumar Mishra, while she herself retained the family welfare portfolio, before eventually giving its charge to her then Man Friday Babu Singh Kushwaha

During the course of the CBI probe, both Mishra and Kushwaha had to resign. Kushwaha is still lodged in jail and ever since fell out with Mayawati. A senior UP cadre bureaucrat Pradeep Shukla was also arrested in connection with the scam and is currently out on bail.

In January 2012, an assistant engineer with UP Jal Nigam had allegedly committed suicide in Lucknow after he was questioned by CBI. He was project manager with the construction and design services (C&DS) department of Jal Nigam, which handled NRHM-related civil works. His kin, however, maintained he was murdered.

CBI had also also arrested Jal Nigam general manager P K Jain, Moradabad-based medicine trader Saurabh Jain and others. Those questioned in the case, include Kushwaha, legislative council member Ramchandra Pradhan, Women Commission member Anita Pradhan etc.

Meanwhile, Mayawati in her press conference at Delhi yesterday had alleged the BJP was targetting her through CBI to weaken her politically before the 2017 UP polls. She claimed to fight back.