Mumbai: AAP alleges scam in outsourcing key ICU service at 7 hospitals

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Wednesday alleged a scam in the outsourcing of ICU intensivist services at seven BMC-run hospitals. The party leaders claimed the agencies which were outsourced the services were mostly indirectly owned by bureaucrats and politicians.

The civic corporation, the AAP claimed, has awarded a contract to an agency that manages intensivist services of 133 ICU beds, including the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar where a patient, Shrinivas Yellappa, had suffered a rat bite on June 22. The patient had subsequently died.

The agency, Critical Care and Associates, which provides intensivists for 21 ICU beds at the Rajawadi Hospital, the AAP said, was owned by a BMC employee. “The contract has been awarded at the rate of Rs 2,200 per bed, per day for 133 ICU beds. It means the scam is worth over Rs 10.65 crore per year. Also, the contract is for two years and has been extended infinitely,” a statement issued by the party Wednesday stated.

Calling for an end to the outsourcing of services, AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon said, “Healthcare is one of BMC’s primary responsibilities, and the civic administration cannot abdicate it by any means whatsoever. The BMC has contracted away schools, BEST, almost all services, and now even healthcare. Then exactly what is the role of the 227 elected corporators and its army of bureaucrats?”

The civic body has denied any scam in awarding contracts for intensivists for ICU beds. “The agency was appointed following a proper tendering process with a transparent process. Calling it a scam is misleading,” a statement issued by the BMC said.