Thiruvananthapuram Oct 26 (IANS) Two hundred and twenty-four iPhones purchased for Rs 7.16 crore, along with fundus cameras, are lying unused in Kerala’s government hospitals, with several phones reportedly missing.
The state government will order a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) probe into alleged corruption and wasteful expenditure in medical equipment purchases.
Health Minister K. Muraleedharan disclosed this in the Assembly on Monday after this issue was raised as a submission by Congress MLA Abin Varkey Kodiyattu.
The revelations also include 128 ventilators supplied under the PM CARES scheme that remain unused at four government medical colleges.
Two oxygen generator plants supplied to Alappuzha Medical College have failed to produce oxygen at the required volume and pressure.
Much of the equipment under scrutiny was purchased during the COVID pandemic, when the first Pinarayi Vijayan government was in office.
The inquiry, however, covers purchases made during other periods as well.
The 128 unused ventilators are at the medical colleges in Kottayam, Manjeri, Kannur and Kozhikode.
The government cited concerns over quality, operational reliability and maintenance costs.
The two oxygen generator plants at Alappuzha Medical College, supplied through the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL), have not been made fully operational.
The minister said the government had appointed a special team headed by the Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department to examine the quality of equipment, the need for the purchases, installation failures and the reasons for prolonged non-use.
Reports relating to medical colleges have been received and are under examination.
Unused equipment has also been identified at Health Department institutions in Wayanad and Ernakulam.
Muraleedharan said public money spent on medical equipment could not be allowed to go to waste.
The government would examine the responsibility of officials and take appropriate action.
The government is also considering the redistribution of usable equipment to hospitals where it is needed.
It has a Biomedical Equipment Maintenance Programme and district-level monitoring mechanisms.
The proposed Vigilance probe comes amid mounting questions over procurement decisions, installation failures and the prolonged non-use of costly equipment meant to improve public healthcare.
–IANS
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