WB slams corruption in aided Indian healthcare projects

[Neo]

WB slams corruption in aided Indian healthcare projects​

* WB president says probe reveals ‘unacceptable fraud and corruption indicators’

NEW DELHI: The World Bank (WB) has exposed serious fraud in Indian healthcare programmes it has funded and said New Delhi had agreed to help stamp out corruption, officials said on Saturday.

Serious lapses in auditing, malpractice and corruption were found in five healthcare programmes launched between 1997 and 2003, it said, adding that the projects were jointly funded by donors, India and the WB.

A “detailed implementation review launched by the WB and the Indian government in 2006 found serious incidents of fraud and corruption in the five health projects,” it said.

Four of the projects under investigation have already been completed while the fifth is ongoing and was facing an in-depth review, the WB said in a statement.

An Indian health ministry spokesman said that the projects that received overseas funds dealt with tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS control.

The WB said that the in-house review was prompted by an internal investigation in 2005 into a reproductive and child health project in India. “It found corrupt practices by two pharmaceutical companies which were subsequently disbarred by the Bank and the [Indian] government,” it said.

corruption indicators: WB President Robert Zoellick lashed out at random corruption in India, where state-run hospitals and clinics are seen as incapable of caring for the nation’s billion-plus population. “The probe has revealed unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption,” Zoellick said in a statement issued in India.

“The government of India and the WB are committed to getting to the bottom of how these problems occurred and I appreciate the resolute commitment of the government, which will be in the lead in pursuing criminal wrongdoing,” he said. Zoellick also blamed administrative lapses by the WB for the fraud.

“On the Bank side, there were weaknesses in project design, supervision and evaluation. There are also systemic flaws. I’m determined to fix these problems,” he said. afp

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[mujahideen]

One of the biggest problems facing both India and Pakistan is corruption.

 

[KENT]

Whatever be the case, we have to fight the corruption. Ordinary man alway think that he can't make any difference in improving system and fighting the corruption. An instict of Courage and Determination need to be immerge among the ordinary people to fight these minace.