Muzaffarpur DM sacks official for NRHM scam

MUZAFFARPUR: The administration here has launched a crackdown on a scam that came to light after several purported “beneficiaries” of a scheme under the NRHM - all women in their 60s - were shown in the records as having given birth to multiple children within a few months, a senior official said.
Muzaffarpur district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh has dismissed from service the official concerned of Musahari block where the glaring irregularities had come to light earlier this month.
“The charges against the official Awadhesh Kumar were found to be true in an inquiry ordered by us. His services have been terminated. A team has also been constituted to look into how things were going on in other blocks of the district and submit a report within a week for further action,” Singh said.
The matter had come to light nearly a fortnight ago when the blocks PHC in charge lodged an FIR at the police station concerned with regard to irregularities noted in the disbursement of benefits under the Janani Suraksha Yojana, a scheme run as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
Records showed that many of the purported “beneficiaries” happened to be in their 60s and were shown to have given birth more than half a dozen times within a span of about a year.