Bribes being sought to make National Health Mission employees permanent: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday alleged that some people in Maharashtra were demanding bribes for making contractual employees of the National Health Mission permanent.

This corruption runs into Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore, the leader of opposition in Maharashtra Assembly claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Fadnavis in the letter said some state ministers earlier assured of making contractual workers under the National Health Mission (NHM) permanent.

"After such comments, there have been some audio clips where some people are demanding Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh to make the employee permanent. It is a corruption of Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore," he alleged.

There are nearly 20,000 contractual workers in the state under the National Health Mission, he said.

The NHM is a Centre-sponsored scheme, but state government is the implementing authority.

"Many people have taken loan to pay the bribe so that they can get a permanent job. I am sending three audio clips along with my letter where the alleged conversations of bribe are recorded," the former state chief minister said.

The government should take strict action and spare no officer if found involved, Fadnavis said.

"If one such mission is mired in such corrupt practices, one can imagine how much corruption is going on in various sectors of the state health department," he said.