Jamshedpur MLA Saryu continues tirade against health minister  

Jamshedpur, April 22: Independent MLA from Jamshedpur East and former BJP leader Saryu Roy has again sent a letter to the chief minister Hemant Soren accusing health minister Banna Gupta’s cell of indulging in dubious means to cover up payments for Covid incentive amount.

According to reliable information, the unauthorized workers whose names have been approved  by the health minister for the Covid incentive amount are now being asked for their bank account numbers  so that they can know whether the Health Department has approved on the orders of the Health Minister.

The payment of incentive amount has reached the account of several of those persons, Saryu alleged. .

Saryu further claims in the letter that two lists were sent for Covid incentive amount. One list was prepared by the Minister’s cell on the orders of the Minister and the second list was prepared by the three-member committee constituted in the department for this purpose. The minister approved both the lists and gave the approval order for their payment on the file. Accordingly, the notification of payment was issued by the Joint Secretary of the Department.

“To pay the Covid incentive amount to the employees of the Minister’s Cell and the employees of the departmental list, the department took out a separate office order dated March 26, this year. Both the office orders having the same number were drawn under the signature of Manoj Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary, Health Department,” claimed Roy.

“At the end of the office order issued for the payment of the personnel (including the minister) of the ministerial cell, a comment is written that “the payment of incentive amount will be payable from the amount allocated in the salary / honorarium item of the concerned officer/worker.”

“There are 94 names in the departmental payment list, most of which (whose bill has reached) have been paid from Doranda Treasury on 31.03.2022. Efforts are on in the Ministerial Cell to know which of the 60 employees of the Ministerial Cell, including the Health Minister, were paid. To know this, employees are being asked for their bank account details,” the letter alleges.

“Who are the personnel involved and what is their parent department,  from which department they are established?” the letter asks.

This office order, the minister made his bill for payment, the details of which bank account the payment would be sent to, was sent to the Cabinet Secretariat Department. The Cabinet Secretariat Department sent it to Doranda Treasury on 31.03.2022 at 9.00 pm for payment. But the treasury’s PMU server slowed down and the payment was stopped after 11.00 pm by the Reserve Bank with the intention of preventing March loot. That’s why the minister’s bill lapsed. The payment could not reach the minister’s bank account. But the corrupt conduct of the minister was proved by this,” Saryu alleges.

Saryu adds further, ‘”There is a lawful process for repayment of expired bills. If the minister feels that his decision to take incentive payment is correct, then he can still take his expired payment by adopting this process. If not, it means that they have taken the wrong route to get the incentive payment which is indicative of their corrupt practices. The same situation is also with the 5 employees of his cell..”