PATNA: Pandemonium broke out in Bihar Legislative Assembly today with opposition BJP staging a protest demanding CBI inquiry into the purchase of medicines worth Rs 100 crore for hospitals when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was holding health portfolio.
As the House sat for the day, Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav drew attention of Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary on adjournment notice given by party MLAs on medicines scam and demanded to take up the notice before proceeding on other issue.
Soon, BJP members trooped into the well of the House and started raising anti-government slogans.
Eight rebel JD(U) MLAs, permitted by courts to attend the House till pendency of decision on their termination, joined BJP in the well and displayed placards besides raising anti-government slogans.
Amid din, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 PM.
Later, the Leader of Opposition told reporters in his chamber that the government was running away from a CBI probe into the purchase of medicines for hospitals in the state."Purchase of medicines worth Rs 100 crore when health department was with the CM (after JD(U) had walked out of coalition) has brought to light involvement of ruling party members in the purchase by BMSICL (Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure Corporation) under the aegis of the Department of Health," Yadav, who served as health minister during NDA rule, said.
Flanked by several party MLAs, Yadav said the impact of the irregularities was that the system of providing free medicines to patients in hospitals has been badly jeopardised.
The NDA government had taken a decision to provide 33 medicines free of cost in OPD and 112 to Indoor patients.
But, today only 7-8 medicines were provided in OPD and not more than 13-19 for Indoor patients, he said, adding that the poor people were not getting even life saving drugs, cotton, syringe and anti-rabies medicines.
Stating that the number of patients in hospitals had come down due to unsatisfactory condition, he said as against a daily visitors of 7,022 patients in government hospitals in Bihar in 2012-13, that in 2014-15 came down to 6,532.
Yadav said even free Ambulance service had been seriously effected in the state at present as almost 80 per cent of Ambulances which could be called on 102 number had been rendered non-functional.