New Delhi : A month after rolling out the Group Mediclaim Health Insurance Scheme for employees, pensioners and accredited journalists, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has “cancelled” the contract to a private company.
In an interview to a New Delhi-based TV channel aired last night, Malik said he has “almost terminated” the contract after an investigation. “It will take couple of days (for the official cancellation order),” Malik said in the interview.
“I studied it myself. The issue is that the government had not issued any tenders. A private company had asked for tenders on behalf of another company. Those bids were not displayed anywhere on our (government’s) website. The tenders were changed to suit a particular company,” Malik said in the interview.
“It was full of frauds. I discussed the issue with the chief secratery and made it clear that such things can’t happen in my presence. So we decided to cancel it”.
The Governor’s administration had rolled out the scheme with much fanfare on September 20 this year.
An order issued by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in September this year, read, “The policy has been tied with M/s Reliance General Health Insurance Company Ltd on annual premium of Rs 8,777 and Rs 22, 229 (for employees and pensioners respectively).”
Earlier this month, Reliance General Insurance had said that it has won the contract to provide health insurance cover to Jammu and Kashmir government staff after a “rigorous and transparent competitive tender process.” The company’s statement came after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the general insurance company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital, got the health insurance mandate from the J&K government due to his proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
