The level of corruption that took place in procurement of machines and equipment for the Faridpur Medical College and Hospital’s (FMCH) Intensive Care Unit in 2014 is outrageous. Reportedly, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had allocated Tk 10 crore to FMCH for the 2014-15 fiscal year and with the money the hospital authorities were supposed to buy various machines and equipment. They gave the job of supplying the equipment to a local trader who, after supplying the required machines and equipment, submitted an inflated bill to the authorities. The trader charged Tk 28.25 lakh for only a set of curtains, which should not cost more than Tk 20,000. Besides, the prices of the machines were shown to be several times higher than the market price and some of the machines were not supplied as per the specifications.
The financial anomalies in procurement were only revealed after the bill of Tk 10 crore was submitted to the health ministry and the ministry declined to pay the bill. When the ACC went to investigate the case at the High Court’s order this year, numerous irregularities of similar nature at the hospital surfaced. It was found that the hospital authorities had submitted a bill of Tk 52.66 crore for buying several other machines which should not have cost more than Tk 11 crore.
The extent of corruption that took place in FMCH speaks volumes about what might be happening in other government hospitals and institutions. The procurement scandal in Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant—where a pillow was bought for Tk 5,957—is still fresh in our memory.
Similar instances of financial anomalies at various government institutions have been reported by the media. All these incidents bring to light the fact that there is no monitoring mechanism in the government institutions especially regarding expenditures. In the case of FMCH, it is simply not understandable how this scale of corruption went unnoticed by the hospital’s higher authorities. Such a waste of public money by a government institution is unacceptable.
However, it is good to know that the ACC has filed a case against six people involved in the scam. We now hope that they will be punished according to the law. As for the government, it needs to make sure that there is an overseeing mechanism in place to strictly monitor the procurement activities at various government institutions, including hospitals.
