Lakhimpur Kheri DM visits blood bank in disguise, suspends staff

SHAHJAHANPUR: Dressed as a common villager, Lakhimpur Kheri district magistrate Akashdeep visited the blood bank in district hospital on Sunday and asked clerical staff to provide a unit of blood. When they asked for a bribe, the DM suspended the staff. The official acted after receiving many complaints from locals.
Following the complaint of one Sajid Khan, whose wife Husn Jahan was admitted to the hospital for delivery, where her condition was stated to be critical after she tested anaemic, Akashdeep, in a guise of villager, visited the blood bank on Sunday, along with the complainant, and asked for a unit of blood, but the lab technician allegedly asked for money.
The DM then disclosed his identity to him and the matter was reported to the chief medical officer (CMO) and the chief medical superintendent (CMS).
CMS Manoj Kumar said, "We have taken action against two lab technicians - one of them, Indrajeet Singh, was suspended, while the other, Ravi Srivastava, was transferred."
Akashdeep told TOI, "Normally, the district hospital blood bank takes a transfusion charge of Rs 450, along with a donor's blood as replacement, for providing blood units. But, if a patient is serious, then there is a provision to provide blood immediately. "When the complainant, who visited the blood bank along with me, asked for blood for his critically-ill wife, the blood bank staff refused to provide blood without money and also asked for a donor. He didn't even bother to understand the circumstances under which blood was sought. Shocked by his behaviour, I introduced myself, and blood was provided to the complainant."