Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad, already embroiled in a controversy over alleged irregularities in transfer in the department, is now in further trouble after the Lokayukta office issued a notice to him in connection with alleged corruption in purchase of medicines during the Covid pandemic.
Prasad has been asked to file an explanation by July 28. Sources said that Lokayukta secretary Anil Kumar Singh has sought factual, relevant and logical explanation on the allegations related to the complaint filed by Rajesh Khanna, a resident of Lucknow.
Alleging that corruption is rampant in the Uttar Pradesh Medical Corporation, the complainant sought a probe into the purchase of medicines and life-saving equipment. Earlier, in the raids by Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, expired medicines worth crores if rupees were recovered in the Medical Supply Corporation’s godown.
It has been alleged that in the medical corporation, companies of the same person benefitted continuously. Three companies of the same person were supplying different orders.
Apart from Additional Chief Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad, the complainant also questioned the role of then MD Kanchan Verma, GM Ujjwal Kumar and Siddharth Bahadur Singh of Medical Corporation.
Questions have also been raised on the supply of substandard PPE kits during the Covid period.
It is noteworthy that a high-level inquiry committee was constituted on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding the transfer dispute in the Health department.