There are only 15 days left till then end of outgoing 2019-20 fiscal year. The budget for the new fiscal year has already been placed at national parliament by the Finance Minister AMA Mustafa Kamal.
Now, at the last minute, the health department has asked for money to buy 21 ambulances on an emergency basis from the allocation of the outgoing fiscal year, an official of the finance division said.
Meanwhile, an official of the finance division said they could have asked for it earlier but it is not clear why the allocation is sought at last minute.
Officials also said: “There are allegations of various types of irregularities and corruption in the health department. We have seen the allegations of corruption in procurement of N-95 mask for doctors and nurses during coronavirus pandemic."
Earlier, the department was unable to provide accurate statistics and explanations on the amount of money that was given to the health department to deal with Covid-19.
According to sources, a total of 71 ambulances were planned to be procured for hospital service management department under health protection division in the financial years in 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscal year.
The finance division released Tk 9.27 crore for this purpose and 50 ambulances were purchased.
The total outlay for the purchase of cars, vehicles and ambulances was Tk 38.95 crore. However, the health department did not send any explanation or expenditure figures on whether the entire amount was spent on the purchase of the ambulance.
In the meantime, two separate letters were sent to the finance department on June 3 and June 6 asking for more funds to buy the remaining 21 general ambulances. This was basically a demand letter.
Officials at the finance division say that the amount of money allocated for the three fiscal years have been used to buy ambulances for the last two fiscal years. The health department has also used the fund. But throughout the current financial year, the health department did not take any action on such an urgent matter.
As a result, the finance department wants to release the money after checking whether they need the ambulances at all. In addition, in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, the health department has released huge sums of money for which exact expenditure figures have not been provided yet.
It is learned that in this situation, the previous expenditure statistics and the demand letter for the purchase of the current ambulance have been re-written to the health department for arbitrary verification.
When asked, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that he was not aware of the issue. However, he said the demand for ambulances and another type of vehicles and supplies in hospitals has increased due to the coronavirus pandemic.
