Corruption in surgical supplies unearthed

PESHAWAR:

A case of financial corruption has surfaced at a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa hospital regarding the procurement of surgical items. Only 2,500 boxes of surgical gloves were provided to DHQ Hospital Timergara despite the purchase of 65,000 boxes at a much higher rate.

Earlier, a similar case of short supplies to Timergara Medical College had come to the fore.

MPA Obaidur Rehman submitted a call attention notice in the provincial assembly, pointing out that during the caretaker government in 2023-24, around 65,000 boxes of gloves valued at Rs140 million were issued for DHQ Timergara. However, the hospital received only 2,500 boxes.

Rs2,200 were charged for a single box of gloves from the hospital against the market price of Rs900 to Rs1000 per box, said the MPA, adding the gloves were also not surgical-grade but ordinary ones.