April 16, 2009 1:10:02 am
BHO transferred after Newsline exposed racket in Chiranjeevi Scheme
The Nadiad Block Health Officer (BHO) Dr Vipul Amin has been transferred following a report published in Express Newsline on April 10,2009 in which it had been pointed out that some private doctors registered under the Chiranjeevi Scheme had been found registering ghost patients and charging treatment fees in lieu of them from the government.
Nadiad CDHO Dr Neelam Patel confirmed that Dr Vipul Amin has been transferred as MHO in the same district but to a different block.
We transferred him on Monday as we didnt want any discrepancy in the implementation of the scheme. We have also questioned his wife Dr Janki Amin who runs a clinic in the same block, said Dr Patel.
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An NGO had alleged that private doctors misused the Chiranjeevi Scheme under which doctors registered with the government are entitled to Rs 1,545 for every institutional delivery of BPL women. Patients also get Rs 100 under this scheme for nutritious food and Rs 100 is given to the patients attendant.
It can be recollected that the Nadiad NGO had alleged that Dr Vipul sent most pregnant women to his wife,Dr Janki Amins hospital. A survey conducted by the same NGO had revealed that 22 women listed in Dr Janki Amins hospital as beneficiaries under the scheme had not delivered at all in her hospital.
They had,in fact,delivered at their homes. Five other women whose names featured in the list of beneficiaries in Dr Jankis hospital were found to have delivered in some other hospital.
Worst,27 women mentioned in the list of beneficiaries could not be traced at all. Not only this,a total of 16 women who had delivered their babies in Janki’s hospital had alleged that they were charged anywhere between Rs 950 to Rs 17,000.
To buttress its point,the NGO had filed an RTI which had revealed that between October 2006 and December 2008 a total of 1,447 beneficiaries had been registered under the scheme in Nadiad. Of this,Dr Jankis hospital handled some 610 cases for which she received Rs 18,00,000 from the government.
Dr Janki has,however,denied these allegations stating,We belong to a very wealthy family and therefore the money under the scheme will not make us any richer. I have taken money only for the deliveries that have taken place in our hospital. We,in fact did not charge any money from the government for BPL women registered under this scheme who did not come to our hospital for delivery. She also said that they no longer accepted cases under the said scheme.
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