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Mediclaim Insurance Fraud: Approved lowest bidder, says Govt

Says, ‘anyone found guilty by ACB will have to face action’

Srinagar: The State Administrative Council (SAC) has said that it cleared the lowest bidder for mediclaim insurance after a proposal approved by Advisor incharge Finance Department and Chief Secretary was put for approval before it.

A top government official on conditions of anonymity said that the decision to engage an intermediary recognized by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for implementing mediclaim insurance policy was taken in the year 2017 with the approval of then finance minister Haseeb Drabu but only one intermediary submitted his proposal for the implementation of mediclaim insurance policy.

Claiming that since only one intermediary submitted proposal for implementation of mediclaim insurance policy the official said “then finance minister Altaf Bukhari ordered retendering with the intent of attracting a better response and choosing the lowest bidder for mediclaim insurance policy.”

Saying that a decision on allotment of contract for mediclaim insurance couldn’t be taken till the fall of PDP-BJP government and also till the new Governor Satya Pal Malik took the charge, the top official said “a proposal cleared by Advisor incharge finance department and chief secretary was put up before the State Administrative Council (SAC) which cleared the lowest bidder recognized by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) out of the six intermediaries who put up their proposals for the implementation of mediclaim insurance policy.”

Saying that nothing wrong has been committed in the bidding process for the allotment of contract on mediclaim insurance policy, the official said “newly constituted Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) will conduct a time bound inquiry and anybody found guilty will have to face action as per law.”

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had announced scrapping of controversial Group Medical Insurance Policy for government employees with Anil Ambani’s Reliance General Insurance.

At a time when Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group is on a notice-serving spree to media houses over their coverage of Rafale jet deal, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s announcement of scrapping of controversial Group Medical Insurance Policy for government employees with Anil Ambani’s Reliance General Insurance Limited (RGIL) came as another blow.

While the scheme was mandatory for employees of PSUs, autonomous bodies and universities, it was to be optional for pensioners and other categories of employees and accredited journalists.

However, this scheme has caused suspicion, as a private company was chosen to be mandatory for certain government employees.

 

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