FIR agaianst 17 health officials in National Rural Health Mission scam

AGARTALA: An FIR has been lodged against 17 health officials, including the present chief medical officer of Unakoti district for alleged misappropriation of National Rural Health Mission outlay.

Confirming the lodging of the FIR, official sources today said in the course of departmental inquiry it was revealed that Rs 4.47 crore had been allegedly siphoned off from 2006 to 2014 by five CMOs and ten medical officers in-charge (MOICs) in the undivided North district.

Sandeep N Mahatme, the Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM) who carried out the departmental probe into the alleged NRHM scam, today said Rs 4.47 crore of the national flagship programme was misappropriated by some health officials.

"In course of the probe, all the CMOs and MOICs had been asked to submit papers showing utilisation of fund but they could not produce till the date prompting me to lodge FIR against 17 persons," Mahatme told PTI.

Chief Medical Officer of Unakoti district Alok Dewan was one of them.

Earlier, Congress MLA Birajit Sinha and party supporters had gheraoed the Dewan demanding immediate arrest of those who were ./cv /involved in the misappropriation of NRHM funds.

The state government had asked the NRHM Mission Director to investigate the misappropriation.