Daily Times

KARACHI: The Anti-Corruption Establishment has started a probe into alleged misappropriation of Rs 900 million in procurement of medicines, officials of the ACE shared on Wednesday.

Ansar Ahmad Ghori, a cadre official of ACE, had issued a letter, dated on May 10, 2018, to the Medical Services director at the Water Board, stating that an inquiry has been initiated in financial wrongdoings in purchase of medicines.

Water Board director, Dr Muhammad Ali, has been asked to submit details about procurement of medicines and other goods.

The details being sought include allocation of budget and utilisation, medicine purchasing and distribution to different hospitals in 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, complete record of medicines purchased for employees including antibiotics, and others used in the treatment of hepatitis and cancer.

In addition, the record of internal and external audit, details of hospitals of KWSB and the hospital panel institute, linked with KWSB, record of all employees admitted to different hospitals, record of diagnostics and lab tests, details of admission letters issued by doctors of KWSB and details of payments made on those admission letter for the period under inquiry has also been sought.

Furthermore, record and information in respect of demand for purchasing of medicine from pharmacies and contractors, and tender files for purchase of medicines, record in respect of medical facilities provided to employees of KWSB has also been sought.

There are 14 hospitals on the KWSB’s panel, besides, there are six pharmacies and 44 specialist doctors.

Financial embezzlement is suspected in dealings with nine hospitals, two stores, a laboratory and seven specialists, officials of the Water Board say.

The vigilance committee of the board has failed to check payment of more than Rs300 million per annum. Around 50 percent of the amount has been misappropriated, according to the KWSB officials.

Qawi and Company, a chartered accountancy firm, has already indicated embezzlement in funds in its report, the officials add.

An official of the Water Board claims that several bogus bills were cleared by the KWSB high-ups on recommendation of workers’ bodies. This issue should also be considered for probe, he remarks.

Rasheed Ahmad and Abdul Quyyum Khan, workers’ leaders at the Board, claim that former the director of the medical services, Dr Salma Ahmad, was removed from her service on charges of misappropriation.

The medical budget for the year 2017-18 stands at around Rs376 million, and for the next year, a budget of Rs 300 million has been sought, the officials said.

Dr Salma, in her separate letters to the Sindh government, and the managing director of the Board, has highlighted misappropriation of funds worth millions of rupees and has also identified officials involved in the wrongdoing, officials maintain.

According to her letters, all types of costly medicine including antibiotics and those needed for hepatitis and cancer treatment were purchased beyond demand. Even the administration of the medicine department did not bother to get approval when it exceeding its financial limits after a scrutiny committee report.

Further, she has alleged that medical tests, medical consultants, prescription and lab bills on MRI, CT, SCAN and PCR were prepared on false grounds.

Published in Daily Times, May 17^th 2018.