BAHAWALNAGAR: On the instructions of the Punjab chief minister, a three-member committee has started probe into the Rs120 million tender scandal at the Bahawalnagar District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

The committee headed by Additional Secretary Health Dr Ahmed Sadeen recorded last week statements of members of the procurement and purchase committees and seized the official record.The chief minister, during his recent visit to the district, had suspended MS Dr Inamul Haq Khilji and ordered a high-level inquiry.

Before his action, the DHQ procurement office was sealed on the orders of DC Shoaib Khan Jadoon on Sept 15 and an inquiry into the matter was ordered after Rs120m irregularities were traced in the award of various contracts by the hospital administration. District Health Officer (DHO) Waheed Afsar Bajwa was appointed inquiry officer who, in his report submitted to Bahawalnagar Health CEO Dr Waseem, said that procurement officer Ghazanfar Ali had failed to hand over documents of bids to the technical committee by Sept 12 -- the day tenders worth Rs120m were opened for bidding.

The DHO report said that technical bids, challans, minutes of meetings, lab items and cycle stand auction documents were not found in the office of the procurement officer. It said the bids, which were supposed to be in the MS office as per rules, were found lying unsealed in the hospital administration office. The report said that Rs54,000 tenders fee of 54 tenders was also not deposited with the bank.

The DHO report held the MS and the admin office responsible for the irregularities. He recommended action against the chairman of purchase committee MS Dr Inam Khilji and other members including Deputy DHO Dr Khalid Javaid and MO Dr Jameel Shah under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline & Accountability (Peeda) Act.

The report further recommended that procurement/HR officer Ghazanfar Ali and all procurement committee members including finance and budget officer Muhammad Ahmed, logistics officer Arsalan Aslam, pharmacist Inam Bashir and admin officer Umar Farooq should immediately be sacked for being involved in the matter.

When the district health CEO did not take any action on the DHO`s recommendations for several days, the deputy commissioner asked him in writing to proceed against all those involved in light of the inquiry report. He also sent a report to the Bahawalpur Commissioner and Health Secretary to apprise them of the matter.

The CEO cancelled the Rs 120 million tender but did not take action against those held guilty and rather referred the matter to the health secretary. In the meanwhile, CM Usman Buzdar visited the district and suspended Dr Inamul Haq Khilji and initiated a departmental inquiry against all those involved in the scam.

Some health officials told Dawn that accused officials were trying their best to save their skin and retain their positions after minor punishments.

The officials said corruption at the DHQ was not limited to the Rs120 million tender. They said it had rather penetrated into the process of hiring and other affairs. The sources alleged that previously when inquiry officer Additional Secretary Health Dr Ahmed Sadeen was serving as the procurement officer at the Primary and Secondary Health office in Lahore, DHQ’s accountant Rizwan Saeed was charged with over-billing and bogus billing and an FIR was registered against him by the Anti-Corruption Establishment. He is presently in the ACE custody along with his brother, a hospital vendor.

Officials claimed (by sharing documentary proofs) that the hospital administration got 50 to 60 per cent commission from vendors. They claimed that overpricing of 200 to 400 per cent was done through vendors for purchasing medicines, maintenance, repair and for other services. They said that the administration paid Rs980 to AfnanPharma for a 100 page COD slip which was otherwise available in the market for Rs80.

Similarly, they said, Afnan traders received Rs4 to 6 million from the hospital administration for the contract of COD slips supply. The sources claimed that during the fiscal year 2018-19, the administration had not deposited Rs1.2 million with the government for local purchases, parking stand and receipts and tender fee.

The dispatch register did not carry signatures of any committee member or the MS. Whereas, the register contains blank pages in order to make fake entries. The same is the case with civil register and other documents.

According to the official, medicine store stocks did not match the official record as more than 50 per cent medicines were not available there.

Furthermore, they said that for the tender of Rs120 million that was cancelled after this newspaper carried the report, its fee was deposited with the bank when the inquiry officer (the DHO) raised the issue.

They said several employees were living in government residences without any allotment and payment. The sources said that the administration, especially the procurement officer who also held the additional charge of HR officer, had caused a loss of Rs800,000 in fee to the government after the second tender was cancelled in the fiscal year 2019-2020.

The sources revealed that a man, Umair Shahid, who acted as a middleman between the hospital administration and vendors, was introduced as the audit officer sent by the health minister. He was working at the procurement office for the last one year without being a DHQ staffer.Talking to Dawn, inquiry officer Dr Ahmed Sadeen said that he was in the procurement department and his job was to inspect hospitals. He said that his visit to the DHQ was on the orders of the chief minister and he was probing the matter.

When Dawn shared with him details of overpricing, over-billing, fake registers and other issues, he showed his surprise and expressed ignorance. When this correspondent offered to share proofs of these wrongdoings, he did not show any interest.

Several attempts were made to approach Health CEO Dr Waseem and DHO Dr Waheed Afsar Bajwa to get their comments but they did not respond to calls and text messages.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2019