The Ahmedabad Civil Hospital is now under a burden of financial dues it is hard put to recover from those it had made payments to.
The case relates to the Covid-19 pandemic period, when due to exigent needs the hospital had made purchases from various private players and individuals in a short time, paying them heftily, much beyond justification or need.
Now, it faces the dilemma of recovering funds from private parties which were paid three times their bills during the pandemic.
The hospital had made huge purchases of medical supplies and services and made payments mostly through the account of Rogi Kalyan Samiti. Medical equipment, surgical items and supplies were bought and in certain cases payments higher than the bills were made. There were allegations of misappropriation at the time after payments were made.
The incumbent superintendent of the Civil Hospital, Dr Rakesh Joshi, has ordered a probe into the payments. He has also initiated the process of recovery of Rs 38.58 lakh from about 70 organisations and individuals.
According to a source, “Call it a mistake or an irregularity, but individuals and organisations were paid three times the bills they presented during Covid.”
Dr Joshi said, “The purchases were made in 2021 during Covid either because of frequent representations for payments, some human error or because of a mistake by a bank employee. Excess payments have been made to several organisations and individuals.”
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