RIMS (Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences), the largest center of treatment for the 3.25 crore people of Jharkhand, is today in the grip of deep corruption, said former Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri in a press conference in Bermo on Saturday. He said that RIMS is the main institution treating the poor, but unfortunately due to the interference and pressure of the current Health Minister, this institution is also being thrown into the fire of corruption.
Bauri alleged that the removal of RIMS Director Dr. Rajkumar from the post without prior notice, reason and any investigation is a clear indication that the government does not want to let honest officers work against institutional corruption. He also said that till date, no allegation of corruption has been leveled against Dr. Rajkumar at any level and his tenure of the last 14 months has been considered an example of honesty and efficiency.
He said that serious irregularities have been revealed in the Comptroller and Auditor General's (AG) report on outsourced companies like Healthmap and Medal - there is a clear mention of fake bills, fake signatures of doctors and other financial irregularities. Despite this, the Health Minister was pressurizing the Director to pay the fake dues of these companies. Not only this, pressure was also being exerted to cancel the tender of MRI machine approved by the Cabinet and give the tender to his favourite contractor.
He said that these Congress party leaders who carry the Constitution in their hands are behaving in this manner with the Director of RIMS who comes from the Scheduled Caste. This clearly shows that there is a huge difference between the words and actions of the Congress leader who does politics in the name of Baba Saheb.
Bauri demanded that an impartial investigation of the process of removing the RIMS Director from the post by CBI and a probe into all financial transactions related to Healthmap and Medal.
He said that there should be an independent investigation into the delay in the construction of RIMS Central La and warned that if a major institution like RIMS is run under political pressure in this manner, then the poor patients will have to bear the brunt of it directly.
Many senior BJP officials including former Giridih MP Ravindra Kumar Pandey, Bokaro District President Jaydev Rai, BJP Kisan Morcha General Secretary Arjun Singh were present in the press conference.