Serious incidents of Fraud and Corruption found in five health projects funded by the Bank worth $570 million
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A detailed internal review, launched in 2006 by the bank's Department of Institutional Integrity, with support from the Indian government, found illegal activity in projects, including those focused on curbing malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, which dates as far back as 1997 (Wall Street Journal [1], 1/14). The projects under investigation were the Second National HIV/AIDS Control Project, the Malaria Control Project, the Tuberculosis Control Project, Food and Drug Capacity Building Project and the Orissa Health Systems Development Project, according to the bank.
According to the Journal, the review found that some of the HIV test kits for the $194 million HIV/AIDS Control Project "often performed poorly by producing erroneous or invalid results, potentially resulting in the further spread of disease." The report also found "numerous indicators of poor product quality in the bed nets supplied by the firms" in the $114 million Malaria Control Project. In the $125 million Tuberculosis Control Project, the review found "bidders sharing the same address and telephone numbers, unit prices showing a common formula and indicators of intent to split contract awards among several bidders."
The report also found inadequate facilities and evidence that the bank repeatedly ignored that the corruption was occurring, according to the Journal. In the AIDS Control Project, "the bank appeared to pay scant attention to the performance and quality of the goods supplied to the blood banks and testing centers, instead focusing on the number of such facilities being erected," the review said.
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This investigation itself is a BIG SHAM. To protect the lousy politicians, people who have struggled all their life with 10,000 rupees salaries have been made the scape-goats.
If the World Bank is really interested in pursuing the matter, then it should continue to press for the original charges against the minister.
Haven't we seen how politicians continue to rule the roost and poor officials are made the scape-goats. When will we have transparency in the way we conduct investigations? I suppose, only when the rotten apples called the Indian politicians are taken to task.
I blame the media too - what gets fed by the politicians is digested comfortably by these guys. It is NOT NECESSARY to select L1 in any bid process. There are qualification criteria in every tender and if the process was so open, with six officials as members, wouldn't they be making money out of every deal as a team? The Orisaa government should make available all the documents related to this deal and all of us will realize that the entire vigilance report is but a sham.
Come on Mr. Navin Pattnaik, come clean on this - don't blame the officials who worked tirelessly and with meagre salaries. All of us have to one day face the God. Truth will prevail here but till then all of us can expect these seven officials to run from pillar to post, begging the same politicians who framed them up.
India, JAGO. Let us work towards transparency. Let us be able to distinguish right and wrong.
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