MoH seeks expenditure details on Covid funds from AMC

Aurangabad, Sept 11:

In a surprising development, the state government's deputed municipal officer of health (MoH) in Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Dr Paras Mandlecha, has issued a letter to the civic administration seeking details of expenditure it had made during the first and second waves of Coronavirus pandemic situation in the city. The state government through district administration has released a fund of Rs 55 crore to AMC to tackle the health Covid-19 emergency.

Earlier, the AMC has claimed of having to spend crores of rupees on the treatment of Covid-19 patients, procuring medicines and other medical aids for them and extending health services. The District Planning Committee (DPC) and Disaster Management have released Rs 55 crore to the AMC. As the possibility of a third wave is hinted, the AMC has submitted a demand of Rs 66 crore before the district administration.

Meanwhile, the internal conflict of AMC is likely to come into the public domain, through the details of expenditure. The state machinery has deputed Dr Mandlecha as MoH in AMC. Four days ago, the AMC administration handed him all the responsibilities of the health section. Hence he started working in full capacity. After taking over the total charge, Dr Mandlecha seems to have issued the letter seeking details of the expenditure against the fund released by the state government, said the sources. It is learnt that if the audit of expenditure is done, many existing officers could land into trouble, in future.

According to reliable sources, " The contractors are making rounds of AMC office for their bills which are pending for the past 7-8 months. After the MoH took over the total charge, they contacted him for their dues. Dr Mandlecha informed them that he is unaware of the details of expenses made by them (various contractors) on different tasks during the pandemic situation. Hence he sought the details of the expenditure from the civic administration."