Ranchi, Feb 28 Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and state BJP President Babulal Marandi has alleged that the latest CAG report exposes widespread financial mismanagement, corruption, and irregularities in the Hemant Soren-led government.
Marandi described the five-year tenure of the previous government as a period of repeated failures and demanded that the state government issue a white paper detailing its work so far.
Citing the report of the central government auditor, he pointed out that as of March 2022, Jharkhand faced a severe shortage of medical personnel. Out of 3,634 sanctioned posts for medical officers and specialists, 2,210 remained vacant -- constituting 61 per cent of the total requirement.
The audit also highlighted a critical lack of staff nurses and paramedics in government hospitals across the state, alongside an alarming shortage of essential medicines.
According to the CAG report, between 2020-21 and 2021-22, the availability of essential medicines at community health centres, district hospitals, and medical colleges ranged from just 5 per cent to 35 per cent, indicating a shortage of 65 per cent to 95 per cent.
The BJP leader termed the state’s Covid-19 management as particularly shameful.
According to the CAG, the Central Government had released Rs 483.54 crore for Covid-19 management, requiring the Jharkhand government to contribute Rs 272.88 crore as its share.
However, against the total provision of Rs 756.42 crore, the state released only Rs 291.87 crore from central funds and Rs 145.10 crore of its share -- utilising just Rs 436.97 crore, which accounts for a mere 32 per cent of the total available amount.
Marandi further alleged that due to the mismanagement of Covid-19 funds, key healthcare infrastructure projects -- such as district-level RTPCR laboratories, a Centre of Excellence in Pediatrics in Ranchi, pre-fabricated structures in CHCs, PHCs, and HSCs, as well as liquid medical oxygen plants -- were not completed.
The absence of district-level laboratories during the pandemic forced officials to send collected samples to other districts, which delayed testing and treatment.
Raising concerns over financial irregularities, the BJP leader termed the approval of a Rs 19,125 crore utilisation certificate a serious issue, asserting that the possibility of large-scale corruption cannot be ruled out.
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