Friday, 27 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Acting tough on the Covid -19 testing scam in Haridwar the state health department has suspended Kumbh Mela health officer Dr Arjun Singh Senger and Nodal officer Dr N K Tyagi. These officers were found guilty of negligence in their work. They are being charged for releasing bills of Rs 50 lakh to the Covid-19 testing labs without checking the facts.
The Kumbh testing scam came to fore when a preliminary inquiry by the Haridwar administration found many irregularities in the tests conducted by private agencies during Kumbh. It was found that a large number of fictitious tests were conducted by the private labs that were given the assignment to test the samples of the pilgrims during Kumbh.
The probe revealed that on one ID and phone number registration of as many as 50 people were done. Many individuals who were shown as sample collectors were found to be the residents of Rajasthan and they had not even visited Haridwar during Kumbh. In one case more than 500 people who were tested were found to be residing in the same address. Later a SIT was constituted by the state government to investigate the scam.
