11 HoDs of Grant Medical College embezzle Rs 5 crore received as commission from pharma companies, reveals probe

During a recent state assembly session, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Sunil Prabhu raised the issue of misappropriation of funds by the department heads and spending them for personal use.

Responding to questions raised in the state assembly on Friday, the state medical education minister Girish Mahajan confirmed the same, and said that they have sought clarification from all the department heads, who are senior doctors, and will take strict action against all those found guilty in the next one month.

In his written reply Mahajan said that, “The heads of 11 departments from the J J Group of Hospitals have been asked to respond. After their reply, further action will be taken.”

The case dates back to 2018 when an RTI activist, Mayur Salvi, had sent a complaint to the state medical education secretary, leading to a probe in 2019.

The probe by the state medical education department, that lasted 4 years, revealed that the 11 department heads opened accounts in various banks on behalf of their departments and collected a sum of around Rs 5 crore through various means such as commission from pharma companies. The money was then used by these department heads for foreign trips and procuring personal stuff.

Mahajan added that an inquiry was conducted on 32 GMC departments and the unauthorised accounts were found in the name of 11 departments. “No permission was taken for opening the accounts, which is not allowed. The department heads opened and operated the accounts,” he added.

The accounts were opened at State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank and ICICI among others.

He further stated that a sum of Rs 6 crore was collected in the accounts, of which Rs 2.7 crore had been spent. “The money included doctor’s fees, educational grants from private pharmaceutical companies and sponsorships,” Mahajan stated.

“The money was used for foreign trips and buying tabs. The purchases were done without permission or tendering, which is the rule,” Mahajan stated. He said the Rs 3.2 crore that remained would be sent to the state treasury.

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“It is a serious offence as no permission was sought from the department. All this was done by them on their own. The accounts that were opened at nationalized and private banks have been seized and the remaining amount will be transferred to the state treasury. In the next one month, strict action will be taken against all the guilty,” Mahajan was quoted as saying in the lower House by TOI.

On Friday, a key accused of the gang that offered MBBS admissions in Grant Medical College, Prashant Popat Padte alias Rud Patil (31), was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the crime branch. He is the 7th accused to be arrested in the case.

According to a recent media report in the Times of India, Popat was living on a fictitious identity in the name of Nikhil Bhosle. Police stated that this case is one of the seven cases which is being probed by the SIT where gangs have cheated students of huge sums of money under the pretext of getting them admission in medical colleges.