DMCH working under scanner, complaint filed

Tribune News Service

Nitn Jain

Ludhiana, March 24

The functioning of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), a premier 1,326-bed (inclusive of 800 teaching beds) tertiary care teaching hospital, here, has come under scanner with a police complaint alleging “misappropriation of funds, forging documents, account books, records, fudging accounts and cheating the poor patients”.

Taking cognisance of the matter, Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, has constituted a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a thorough probe into the serious allegations and sought a report before proceeding further in the case.

However, the managing society of the leading medical college and hospital, established in 1964, has vehemently denied the allegations as “totally false and baseless”.

In a complaint to the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate, a local resident, Anil Kumar Sachdev, has alleged that the accountant and assistant general manager (finance) in connivance with others were “cheating the poor and needy patients and misappropriating hospital funds while fabricating and forging invoices and records”.

Accusing them of committing offences under Sections 420, 468, 471, 477-A and 120-B of the IPC, the complainant further alleged that the suspects were “cheating and playing fraud” for the past several years not only with the institution but also with the public and patients, majority of whom were poor.

“The suspects in connivance and conspiracy with several others are misappropriating funds and, in turn, cheating and fleecing the government and the poor patients,” Sachdev alleged while also accusing the suspects of “making investments beyond their known financial means”.

The complainant urged the police to register an FIR into the matter to investigate the allegations and punish the suspects as per law.

Confirming the receipt of the complaint, CP Mandeep Singh Sidhu told The Tribune that since the DMCH was a premier referral hospital in the state, a three-member SIT has been formed to probe into the allegations.

“The SIT, comprising JCP (City), DCP (Investigation) and ADCP Operations, will submit the inquiry report within seven days,” Sidhu said while adding that further action would be initiated as per the findings of the probe panel.

DMCH secretary Prem Gupta said: “We have zero tolerance for corruption and wrongdoings. I challenge that not even a small bungling can take place in our institute as there is a three-tier system of audit in place.”

“Some bad elements were behind making such frivolous complaints to further their own interests,” he said.

DMCH accountant Umesh Gupta and AGM (finance) Munish Kalia also denied the allegations while claiming that a “transparent system was in place with regular IT and GST returns being filed as per the proper accounting methods.” They also termed the complaint as “false and baseless”.

From a school to medical college, hospital

Having an imposing complex of modern buildings and equipped with all kinds of modern facilities for providing excellent care to patients and training to undergraduate and postgraduate students, the hospital’s all clinical departments, along with diagnostic laboratories, provide round-the-clock services on its campus.

A retired Captain, Dr Banarsi Dass Soni, had started Arya Medical School from a rented accommodation here in 1934, and in 1936, the management of the medical school was handed over to the Arya Samaj before shifting it to its own building in 1937.

The institution was recognised for the LSMF (Licentiate of the Punjab State Medical Faculty) in 1938 and in 1964, Arya Medical School was made a full-fledged MBBS college by the name of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

Duly recognised by the Medical Council of India for the MBBS and several specialty and super-specialty courses, and affiliated to the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, as many as 100 students are admitted to the MBBS course every year through NEET.