K-P health dept under fire for Rs638 million medical glove procurement fraud

A corruption scandal has surfaced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Health Department regarding the procurement of medical gloves, involving millions of rupees.

According to official documents, gloves recorded in government inventories are missing from the District Health Officer (DHO) stores.

The documents reveal that gloves worth Rs280 million were purchased for Bajaur and North Waziristan in February and March, with a total cost amounting to Rs638.3 million.

The directorate general of health services made payments for these gloves, including Rs135.6 million for 6 million gloves for the district health office in Peshawar.

However, the storekeeper at the DHO Peshawar claims no stock of gloves was received.

Additionally, gloves worth Rs67.8 million were reportedly purchased for Bajaur under the Top-Up Programme, but 3 million gloves are missing from the DHO Bajaur’s records.

Similarly, Rs434.8 million worth of gloves were purchased for the DHO North Waziristan, with 19 million gloves unaccounted for.

Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah stated that a mega inquiry has been launched into the matter, vowing to expose any corruption that occurred during the caretaker government's tenure.

Last week, K-P Minister for Works and Communications, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, resigned from his post, citing "deep-rooted corruption" within the provincial government.

Ahmed, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), submitted his resignation to Chief Minister (CM) Ali Amin Gandapur, expressing frustration with the administration's widespread mismanagement.

In his resignation letter, the minister emphasised his inability to tolerate the ongoing corruption, stating he was compelled to step down.

He also announced his intention to disclose the full reasons behind his resignation during the upcoming KP Assembly session.

Ahmed had previously accused the chief minister of interfering in his ministry, which, he claimed, severely hampered his ability to work effectively due to the rampant corruption.