A case of fraud of crores of rupees through fake cards and manipulation under the Ayushman Bharat scheme has come to light in Chandigarh’s PGI. After which Chandigarh Crime Branch has arrested an accused Balram from Saharanpur, UP. After the news of this scam came a few weeks ago, the PGI administration and Amrit Pharmacy jointly lodged a complaint with the police and formed an internal committee to investigate the matter.
The investigation has revealed that fake Ayushman cards were made using fake doctor stamps, which provided free treatment to ineligible people. The accused was handed over to the police by the PGI along with the seized stamps and indent books. The police have registered a case against Raman Kumar on the statement of PGI Assistant Security Officer B. S. Rawat.
Fraud with stolen indent book and fake stamp
Using stolen indent book and fake stamp, medicines prescribed for patients who were undergoing treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme were wrongly diverted.
Online system will be implemented After the scam, the PGI administration has started the process of implementing a secure online indenting system by removing the existing manual system for cashless schemes. This system developed by the computer section of PGI will be added to the hospital information system (HIS-1) and will be fully implemented within a week.
For cashless beneficiaries, the PGI administration has set up a dedicated service area outside the emergency department, where Amrit Pharmacy will provide services only to the beneficiaries of cashless schemes. Also, PGI and Amrit Pharmacy will work together to increase the number of employees, so that medicines and implants can be delivered directly to the patients at their bedside under the new online system.
Big revelations can be made in remand
Accused Balram is on 3-day police remand. More big revelations can be made from the accused during interrogation. Investigation revealed that earlier on February 18, accused Raman Kumar, who worked in Amrit Pharmacy, was arrested by Sector-11 police.
He was brought to the security control room of PGI on suspicion as he was using the ‘Ayushman Bharat Indent Book’ of the Urology Ward of PGI in the pharmacy. During the search, the ‘Ayushman Bharat Indent Book’ of the Urology Ward and eight stamps of various departments of PGI were found from him. These included stamps of Nursing Officer, Senior Resident (Internal Medicine), Ayushman Bharat Him Care Pharmacy and other departments.
