Centre Orders CBI Probe Into Fake Tests At Mohalla Clinics

The Union Home Ministry has ordered a CBI probe into the allegations of fake diagnostic tests prescribed by the Delhi government-run mohalla clinics to benefit private labs.'

It comes a day after LG VK Saxena recommended a probe into allegations by the central agency. Officials told PTI that "grave" fraudulent practices have been found to be prevalent in the lab tests being carried out in the name of patients visiting Delhi government hospitals and mohalla clinics with payments being made to private labs.

"It is indicative of a scam running in hundreds of crores (of rupees). Saxena had issued these directions while clearing a file pertaining to the extension of lab testing services to private parties for patients visiting mohalla clinics and Delhi government hospitals in December 2022," the news agency quoted an official as saying.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj announced that the AAP government had, in the previous year, removed several doctors and staff from mohalla clinics due to misconduct and had also called for the dismissal of the health secretary.

An investigation was initiated by the Delhi government's Vigilance and Health Departments to examine the outsourcing of lab investigations to private diagnostic companies.

In August of the same year, it was discovered that certain doctors and staff from seven mohalla clinics in southwest, Shahdara, and North-East districts engaged in "unethical practices" by fraudulently marking their attendance through pre-recorded videos, as per an official statement.

These mohalla clinics, located in Jaffar Kalan, Ujwa, Shikarpur, Gopal Nagar, Dhansa, Jagjeet Nagar, and Bihari Colony, were implicated. Patients at these clinics received medical consultation and medications from unauthorized staff in the absence of doctors, posing a potential threat to the patients' lives, the official noted.

In response, actions were taken in September, leading to the de-empanelment of the involved staff, and FIRs were filed against them.

Following this, a comprehensive review of sample lab testing data spanning three months-from July to September of the same year-was conducted, sourced from two private service providers.