Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar Directs Govt To Table Cancer Van Purchase Probe Report By Monsoon Session End

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government was conducting an inquiry into the purchase of vans procured and used by the Public Health Department for cancer diagnosis, said Minister of State for Public Health, Meghana Sakore Bordiar, in the Assembly on Thursday, following which the Speaker directed that the report be tabled in the House before the end of Monsoon session.

Minister Bordiar said this after the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly alleged a major scam in the purchase of the vans procured and used by the Public Health Department for cancer diagnosis.

She said the purchase of the vans was carried out through a transparent tender process, but in the wake of complaints from public representatives in this regard, the department was conducting an inquiry.

Opposition legislators Bhaskar Jadhav from Shiv Sena(UBT) and Vijay Wadettiwar (Congress) during question hour claimed the vans were purchased at a higher price and the entire tender process was stage-managed. They demanded stern action against the concerned.

Wadettiwar demanded that the inquiry and its report be presented in the state Assembly before the end of the session.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar Responds To Wadettiwar’s Demand

Responding to Wadettiwar’s demand, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar directed that the inquiry into the matter be completed before the end of the session and the report be presented in the House.

Wadettiwar said the Public Health Department has purchased eight cancer diagnostic vans to diagnose cancer, but those vans have been purchased at double or triple the price. He demanded that an inquiry be conducted into whether there has been any fraud, and that its report be presented before the House before the end of the session.

“The government has purchased eight cancer diagnostic vans. The price of one van cannot be more than Rs 40 lakh. The equipment in these vans is not more than Rs 12 lakh. However, the vehicles have been purchased at a higher price. There are vans related to a life-threatening disease like cancer, and some of the equipment has even broken down. There is an investigation underway into whether there has been corruption in this purchase. The report has not even come yet. So what exactly is going on?” he asked.

Shiv Sena (UBT) claimed that these vans can be procured at Rs 45 lakh against Rs 90 lakh as done in this case. He asked the minister why they were procured at a higher price, alleging that there had been irregularities in this entire process, and it needed to be probed.

MoS Bordikar told the Assembly that eight cancer diagnostic vans have been purchased on a turnkey basis through the GeM portal. The procurement was done through a competitive tender process, and the bids received were below 0.94 per cent of the estimated price. These vans are equipped with 44 medical equipment, furniture and customisation. The purchase has been completed by adhering to the government’s stipulated norms.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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