Youth Fraudulently Claims Rs 60k Medicines Under Ayushman Bharat

Chandigarh: A routine security check at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh recently led to a major breakthrough, exposing a multi-state racket involving the illegal procurement of medicines valued at Rs 60,000 under the Ayushman Bharat cashless scheme. The medicines meant for patients were allegedly resold to private medical stores.

The scammers allegedly used forged documents and fake departmental stamps to obtain medicines under the scheme from PGIMER's AMRIT Pharmacy. The case has now been transferred to the Crime Branch after initial investigation by the local police.

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Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is a health insurance scheme that aims to provide a health cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The scheme covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days of post-hospitalisation expenses.

As per the latest media report by The Tribune, the incident prompted the institute to tighten security after the scam came to light on February 18. On that day, the PGIMER security personnel intercepted a young man attempting to collect medicines worth Rs 60,000 using a fake department stamp.

His suspicious behavior led to an on-the-spot interrogation, during which he revealed details of a larger network operating not only in the hospital but also connected with other states. When officials searched him, they found an indent book from the Department of Urology and eight counterfeit stamps belonging to various PGIMER departments.

Following the discovery, the matter was handed over to the police after a complaint was filed against the youth. During interrogation, the youth told the police that he was working for someone in Saharanpur, who was using the indent book and fake stamp of PGIMER to get medicines worth crores under the Ayushman Bharat Yojna and sell it to medical stores and had access to patient data of the institute.

To prevent such racket operations on campus, PGIMER established an internal committee to investigate the matter and provide recommendations to prevent future occurrences.

To safeguard the integrity of its healthcare services, the institute has made several reforms. The PGIMER is now transitioning to a ‘secure online indenting system, ’ replacing the manual process to prevent further misuse of medicines under the scheme. The computer section, in collaboration with the internal committee, has developed an online solution that will be integrated with the existing Hospital Information System (HIS 1) within a week.

A dedicated service area outside the Emergency has been allocated for the AMRIT Pharmacy exclusively for the cashless scheme beneficiaries. To further enhance services, the authorities are working to increase staffing to ensure the timely delivery of medications and implants directly to patients at their bedside.

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