BMC tender scandal: Private trust’s fake address raises questions

A private charitable trust having the address and phone number of the ICCU of a BMCrun hospital raises severe concerns about the corporationrsquos lack of due diligenceThis evidence suggests that either the central purchase department CPD of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC was negligent or that there was deliberate connivance with a powerful lobby to favour the trustThe trust known as Ms Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust is currently under scrutiny for a doctor scam allegedly defrauding the corporation of crores of rupees by violating tender conditions and providing BAMS and BHMS doctors instead of MBBS and MD doctors to run the ICCUA health care expert who prefers to remain anonymous stated ldquoIt is evident from the BMC documents that the CPD located in Byculla which executed the tender and work order on behalf of the corporation has shown a lack of due diligence This could be attributed to either their lackadaisical attitude or deliberate connivance with a powerful lobby either from within or outside the civic corporation to favour the trust As a result no effort was made to verify the trustrsquos address and other contact detailsrdquoFive years ago in an article titled ldquoOutsourcing ICUs in peripheral hospitals is a waste of public money say doctorsrdquo midday was the first to raise concerns about outsourcing peripheral hospital ICUs Recently midday has written a series of articles exposing the wrongdoings of the Jeevan Jyot Charitable TrustAccording to official communication from the central purchase department of BMC dated May 17 2018 the trust was awarded a twoyear contract May 17 2018 to May 16 2020 to provide intensivist services for ICU units in three civicrun hospitals MM Malviya Hospital Govandi MICU and TICU KMJ Phule Hospital Vikhroli MICU and M T Agarwal Hospital Mulund EMS amp ICCU The total consideration for the contract was R883 crore as stated by the health expertThe trust was responsible for hiring and deploying qualified MD medicineMBBS doctors to run the peripheral hospitalsrsquo EMSICUTICU However they hired nonallopathic doctors BHMSBAMS who were not registered with the Maharashtra medical council Furthermore they continued to operate the ICUs even after the contract period ended obtaining extensions until October 2022 Despite numerous complaints from patientsrsquo relatives medical superintendents and even senior civic officials including the commissioner the complaints against the trust were ignoredBlacklisting trust an eyewashRegarding the BMCrsquos response Goldy Sharma a whistleblower in the case considers the blacklisting of the trust to be merely an eyewash Sharma who has been investigating the trustrsquos wrongdoing for the past four years post the demise of his elder brother Rajkumar Sharma at MT Agarwal hospital in 2019 alleges that his complaints to senior civic and police officials went unheard He believes that if the BMC were to take his complaint seriously many innocent lives could have been saved Sharma further suggests that a criminal offence should be registered against the Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust for cheating and violating tender conditions instead of just blacklisting the trust He believes that a highlevel corruption inquiry into outsourcing BMC peripheral hospitals is necessary and will expose several senior BMC officials and external forcesSharma has also reported receiving threat calls since filing a police complaint against the trustees of the Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust Despite informing the police and requesting protection he continues fighting against a powerful lobby without security As a last resort Sharma has applied for a firearm license for selfprotection hoping the police department will evaluate his request and take necessary action He plans to expose the trustrsquos activities by filing a writ petition at the Bombay High Court incorporating crucial evidence he has collected over the past four yearsActivists demand enquiryActivists including Advocate Godfrey Pimenta a trustee of the Watchdog Foundation are demanding a thorough investigation Pimenta finds it shocking that the Jeevan Jyot Charitable Trust which was awarded the tender to supply doctors with MD and MBBS degrees instead provided doctors with nonallopathic degrees to hospitals with ICUs Furthermore the trust listed its registered address as the ICU at VN Desai Hospital Santacruz East Mumbai Pimenta emphasises that the involvement of civic officials is evident and pending a comprehensive investigation they should be suspended immediately to ensure a fair process