NEW DELHI: IN a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has alleged cases of conflict of interest in various quarters of the government. The SJM has flagged the appointment of Nachiket Mor on the board of Reserve Bank of India while he is a full-time India representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Ashwani Mahajan, SJM co-convenor, has claimed that BMGF is under the scanner of the Ministry of Home Affairs, besides actively getting funds from foreign sources. “We are writing this letter after getting relatively sure of certain cases of conflict of interest arising in various corners of the establishment,” Mahajan noted in his letter to the PM, alleging that “BMGF is working in favour of multinational companies by influencing government policies relating to health and agriculture”.
The fact that BMGF is functioning in India with RBI’s permission makes this a glaring case of conflict interest, he added.
Majahan further charged that BMGF was funding an NGO, Global Health Strategies (GHS), to push globally redundant vaccines in India.
“Serious charges of conflict of interest of a joint secretary in the Ministry of Health appointment on a panel of GHS have been reported. The official was responsible for the National Immunisation Programme and GHS is lobbying for use of vaccines such as the HPV vaccine. Obviously, questions are raised about the influence of the pharma giants on the National Immunisation Programme,” wrote Mahajan.
The SJM has noted that Parliament’s Standing Committee on Health in 2013 had observed serious lapses on the part of PATH in getting the informed consent of parents, the process of taking regulatory clearances as well as conflict of interest of the NGO with certain quarters of the government.
SJM’s contentions
Nachiket Mor is on the board of Reserve Bank of India while he is a full-time
India representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
BMGF is functioning in India with RBI’s permission, making it a glaring case of conflict of interest