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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UP has turned NRHM into a deadly web of graft and killings

UP has turned NRHM into a deadly web of graft and killings

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published Published on Jan 25, 2012   modified Modified on Jan 25, 2012

-The Economic Times

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was started in 2005 by the first UPA government. It has had some positive results: after 15 years of stagnation , over 1,00,000 new healthcare professionals have been inducted and more and more village women are admitted to institutions to deliver babies. 

But in India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, the NRHM is at the centre of a massive corruption racket. Three senior medical officers have already been killed, some say to cover up tracks left by the corrupt. On Monday, it claimed a fourth victim: Sunil Verma, an engineer working for the NRHM who was also one of the accused in the scam. Police claim Verma shot himself, others dispute this. 

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has sacked more than half the original number of ministers in her Cabinet for some reason or another. In the harsh glare that every election brings to an administration, her government looks riddled by corruption and ineptitude. Between April 2005 and March 2011, Uttar Pradesh received around Rs 8,660 crore under the NRHM from New Delhi, the highest allocation among all states. It seemed to deserve the money: after all, its health indicators were among the worst in India. Alas, most of the money didn't reach the intended recipients. 

A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General found that Rs 5,754 crore, a full two-thirds of the funds, was not accounted for. It suspects that the money was siphoned off by politicians and babus. Another Rs 1,365 crore was not utilised till the end of March 2010. 

Medicines were never delivered, clinics were used to store vegetables and grain, and 51 health centres that were supposed to be built, were not constructed. Uttar Pradesh proves how schemes launched with the best intentions can be hijacked by the worst people. 

Given this sorry state of affairs, the Centre must link funds for schemes like the NRHM to actual performance. The CBI, which is probing the scam, must investigate the murders and alleged suicides as well. And chief minister Mayawati must be seen to be keen to punish the guilty, rather than attempting to shield them.

The Economic Times, 25 January, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/up-has-turned-nrhm-into-a-deadly-web-of-graft-and-killings/articleshow/11624393.cms


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