JDU MLA Manjit Kumar Singh. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Sept. 13: The JDU has alleged irregularities in purchase and supply of drugs between 2005 and 2013 when the health ministers were from the BJP, even after an adverse report from Central Research Institute, Kasauli, in 2010.

Chandramohan Rai was health minister from November 24, 2005, to April 13, 2008, Nand Kishore Yadav from April 14, 2008, to November 24, 2010, and Ashwini Kumar Choubey from November 26, 2010, to June 16, 2013.

JDU MLA Manjit Kumar Singh said on Saturday that then health minister Ashwini had accepted in the Assembly, in December 2011, that prohibited medicines were purchased from blacklisted firms but no action was taken against defaulters. Manjit has sought a judicial inquiry into the entire episode. While he did not rule out irregularities during Chandramohan Rai’s tenure he focused his attack on Nand Kishore and Ashwini.

“During Nand Kishore and Ashwini’s stint as health ministers, the State Health Society (SHS), Bihar, continued to buy banned drugs from blacklisted companies. These were then supplied to different government hospitals in full knowledge of both ministers,” Manjit said. Several persons lost their lives after consuming those drugs, he said. He cited the example of the Gopalganj civil surgeon, who had purchased inferior quality snake venom anti-serum in 2011. These inferior drugs were later supplied to all primary health centres (PHCs) of the district. Four persons lost their lives after being given this drug.

The JDU MLA said he had raised the medicine scam issue in the Assembly in December 2011. He had asked why no action was initiated against the defaulters.

In his reply, Ashwini had said samples of the snake venom anti-serum had been sent to the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, for inspection and action would be taken against defaulters only after the report comes. However, the state government had received the report from Kasauli more than a year ago, in June 2010; a copy of it is with The Telegraph.

Manjit said Ashwini lied to the House by not disclosing findings of the report. The report clearly says that the snake venom anti-serum was found to be of sub-standard quality, especially in respect of neutralisation of cobra venom. The samples had been sent for testing following regular complaints about their quality.

Even after receiving the adverse report, supply of the drug continued unabated till the deaths between January and November 2011. It was only after the Gopalganj district magistrate set up an inquiry that the drugs were withdrawn and further distribution stopped. Manjit said: “In reply to my call attention motion, Ashwini accepted irregularities in the purchase of medicines in East Champaran and West Champaran respectively. The health ministry inquiry report had indicted civil surgeons of both these districts but no action was initiated against them.”

Manjit had even asked Ashwini why the principal secretary, health, did not bother to visit Gopalganj and personally to inquire into the snakebite deaths in September 2011, something then chief minister Nitish Kumar had asked. Also, Ashwini had assured action against the Gopalganj civil surgeon within a month, but it never happened. Several calls to Ashwini for comments went unanswered.

The blame game over the drug scam has been going for some time now. On Tuesday, chief minister Manjhi had ruled out a CBI probe but given a clean chit to his predecessor Nitish Kumar, stressing that the former chief minister was not in charge of the health portfolio during the scam. He also asserted that state agencies were competitive enough to carry out investigations into the case.

But BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi reacted sharply, saying: “The Bihar chief minister is nobody to give a clean chit to Nitish. Clean chits are given by investigating agencies”.

Nitish broke his silence on the scam on Thursday, shooting off a letter to BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, asking for clarifications to prove the latter’s contentions about the alleged scam. Modi reacted a day later saying he would come out with 10 questions for Nitish and also said he was not a Right to Information officer and Nitish should not seek details of the scam from him.