In what smells like a scam brewing, a 65-year-old woman in Bihar has been shown in official records as having delivered eight children in the last 13 months and consequently receiving Rs 1,400 after every delivery as government dole.
The embezzlement of funds under the Rashtriya Gram Swasthya Yojna (National Rural Health Mission) was detected when it was found that 65-year-old Shanti Devi of Muzaffarpur had actually not delivered any child in the said time frame.
"Shanti Devi has not delivered any child in the last 20 years. Her youngest son is 20 years old,” one of her kin informed a leading vernacular daily.
In fact, the elderly woman, who stays in the Mushari block of Muzaffarpur, is not even aware of the fact that she has been paid Rs 1,400 eight times between July 2019 and August 2020. Every time the amount was credited, someone withdrew it from her account the very next day. Shanti Devi's family has informed the bank about the discrepancies.
But what is more concerning is that this doesn't end with Shanti Devi.
Leela Devi of Choti Kothia village in the same block has also been shown to have delivered babies eight times in the last 13 months. In reality, she has not delivered any child in the last decade after undergoing a family planning operation. Her case is all the more curious as, in one instance, records showed that she had delivered babies twice a day.
Just like Shanti Devi's case, Rs 1,400 was deposited into her account eight times and the amount was withdrawn the next day.
Dr Upendra Choudhary, in-charge of the Public Health Centre (PHC), said since the concerned clerk was on leave, he won’t be able to shed much light on it.
Civil Surgeon Dr SP Singh, however, assured that suitable action would be taken against the guilty. “We will get to the bottom of the matter after proper investigation and ensure the culprits are brought to book,” said Singh.
“A four-member committee has been formed to investigate the matter. No guilty will be spared in this case,” said Bihar’s Health Minister Mangal Pandey here on Thursday.