This story is from March 29, 2020

Bihar: Kaimur nodal officer for corona suspended

Bihar: Kaimur nodal officer for corona suspended
Representational image
PATNA: Kaimur DM Nawal Kishore Choudhary on Saturday suspended a senior health department employee for gross irregularities in distribution of masks in government hospitals and primary health centres in the district in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
The DM has asked senior deputy collector Amitesh Kumar to probe the entire matter and submit a report at the earliest. This is the fist incident of irregularities in the distribution of masks in the government hospitals across the state.
Choudhary said action was taken on complaints of irregularities in the distribution of masks to the Sadar hospital.
“The preliminary report suggested that there was huge difference in the consignment of mask supplied to the hospital and the stock register maintained by the officers concerned,” he said.
Choudhary said pharmacist Ramashanker, who was also the nodal officer for Covid-19 in the district, has been suspended and departmental proceedings have been initiated against him. “Axe will also fall on other employees after the inquiry report,” he said over phone.
According to authoritative sources, altogether 77,000 masks were supplied to the district for distribution among the health department employees. While 30,000 were supplied to the Sadar hospital at Bhabhua, the remaining 47,000 were provided to the civil surgeon office and different primary health centres.
It came to the surface that the number of masks supplied to the employees of the Sadar hospital was less than shown in the stock register. “The huge difference in the supply and actual distribution smacked of a scam,” the DM said.
Kaimur, which shares its border with Uttar Pradesh, is considered vulnerable for Covid-19 as a large number of migrants from the district worked in different states in the country and abroad. Altogether 12 residents have been put under home quarantine in the district.
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