By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The Congress party on Sunday slammed the Uttarakhand Health Department’s plan to purchase stands for vein detector machines at prices several times higher than the cost of the device and alleged that scores of medical equipment are lying unused in hospitals.
The state Health department has denied the allegations and described them as “baseless and unfounded.”
The state party President Karan Mahara demanded a high-level probe into the scam and sought stern actions against state Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat.
Mahara also alleged that irregularities in the purchase of these machines, along with the central government’s “Make in India” campaign, were also flouted. He said that an MRI machine costing 60 crore rupees was purchased from a Chinese company, ignoring standards, and an Indian company that was competing with it was not given a chance.
Mahara said before granting permission to purchase any machine in the state’s health department, the bidder’s documents are checked, then asked to give a demo, and then the machine is tested at Coronation Hospital in Dehradun. However, he claimed, “During testing at Coronation Hospital, the vein detector machine failed, after which it was sent to AIIMS Rishikesh for retesting to get them passed.”
The Congress leader alleged that the purchase of the vein detector machine bypassed the state’s established procedures and was approved by AIIMS Rishikesh, where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is itself investigating the alleged irregularities in the admission process, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical procurement.
Mahara claimed that it was decided to purchase stands costing significantly more than the machines themselves. He said, “While the market price of a vein detector machine ranges from ₹5,000 to ₹50,000, the Health Department decided to purchase a stand for ₹4.5 lakh. Thus, the cost of each machine, including the stand, is approximately ₹5.5 lakh.”
He claimed that a total order of ₹ 5.81 crore has been placed for the purchase of the vein detector machines. Mahara alleged that similarly, CT scan and MRI machines purchased at a cost of crores of rupees are gathering dust in hospitals and have not yet been installed. He said that the company is responsible for maintaining the machines for two years after purchase, but here, a year and a half has passed without any effort.
He also alleged that irregularities in the purchase of these machines, along with the central government’s “Make in India” campaign, were also flouted. He said that an MRI machine costing 60 crore rupees was purchased from a Chinese company, ignoring standards, and an Indian company that was competing with it was not given a chance.
Meanwhile, state Director General of Health Dr. Sunita Tamta dismissed these Congress allegations as “completely baseless and unfounded.”
She said that the purchase of the vein detectors was made in accordance with the demand received from the districts and the prescribed standards. Tamta said, “the technical specifications of the machine for the purchase of the vein detectors were determined by an expert committee and approved by the Central Purchase Committee. Later, the tender was publicly published on the GeM portal. The successful bidder was technically vetted by an expert committee from AIIMS, Rishikesh, and the committee conducted a market survey of the rates obtained on the GeM portal.” The advance purchase process is underway.
She stated that five CT scan machines were purchased for five district hospitals and were installed last year. He stated that all the machines were purchased through an open tender with the World Bank and patients are benefiting from them.
Tamta stated that 965 CT scans have been performed in Chamoli so far and approximately 1,500 in Bageshwar.