Agartala, Oct. 18: The Tripura health department is mired in a Rs 32-crore scam in the implementation of the centrally-sponsored National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) at Kailasahar, the headquarters of Unokoti district.
A large group of Congressmen, led by veteran MLA and PCC vice-president Birajit Sinha, laid a daylong siege around the NRHM office in Kailasahar yesterday till the chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Alak Dewan, gave a written undertaking. He said he would seek the approval of higher authorities within a week and file an FIR against the guilty in the case.
A cashier of NRHM, Nirmal Das has been suspended for drawing over Rs 1.12 crore through cheques between April 1 2006 and March 31 2014.
Sinha and his lieutenant Badruzzoman filed an FIR with the Kailasahar police station seeking action against the guilty.
“A NRHM officer, K. Barua, had kept more than Rs 5 crore meant for malaria eradication unspent though the disease is rampant in the district. There is no utilisation certificate nor proper records for funds spend,” Sinha alleged.
The erstwhile district magistrate (Unakoti) Abhishek Chandra had pressed for a special audit of the accounts of the project implementation. Irregularities to the tune of Rs 32 crore were unearthed.
“A copy of the secret audit report reached me and everything was clear. I knew that the state health department would take no action in the matter and I decided to launch an agitational programme yesterday and finally lodged FIR with the Kailasahar police station,” said Sinha.
