Sandip Ghosh’s many (mis)deeds: Ghost staff, rigged hiring
Times of India | 8 September 2024
KOLKATA: The CBI probe into the financial irregularities of the R G Kar Hospital details how Ghosh and his cronies minted money from diverse sources, including manipulating students’ results and preparing a “suspicious” list of house staff and appointing “candidates of his choice” for the position.
The CBI, in its submission with the Special CBI court, suspected that Ghosh had “surpassed the process and straight away appointed house staff of his choice” without “adopting a transparent method”.
The agency has dug into the recruitment process of house staff for 2022 and 2023. It found documents which show that it does not have any resolution of any committee for the same.
It does not even have any detailed calculation of marks. While committees were formed for the purpose, none of the members had signed these mark sheets or any other document related to the selection process.
The order to appoint house staff only carries final marks of the candidates and a final order for the same.
Doctors at the R G Kar Medical College said that they have not come across any panel for selection of house staff in the hospital. Ghosh had introduced a system of “interview” for the candidates who were shortlisted for the position of house staff. Later a list of house staff was prepared by him and many meritorious students were left out.
CBI officers have reasons to believe that numbers from a “fictitious interview” might have been added to the marks of the candidates to accommodate them as house staff against a payment to a few close associates of Ghosh.
The corruption, CBI found, was even more deep-rooted and spread into every aspect from recruitment of house staff to “collusive bidding” and “bid rigging” in every tendering process.
Investigators have come across how fake companies, owned by Biplav Singha and his relatives, took part in the tendering process to facilitate Maa Tara Traders bag the contracts.
Investigation has led to two more companies, M/s Baba Loknath and Tiasha Enterprises. Singha ran these two and other companies through his “family members, staff and friends” and participated in the tender process.
Number of quotations and tenders filed by these companies made the process look legible, but Singha ended up bagging orders every time.
Although work orders used to be endorsed by different office bearers of the hospital, the officials actually never came to know about these. The CBI mentioned “serious lapses” on the part of the hospital.
It has also brought to the fore how Ghosh’s security guard Afsar Ali bagged the canteen contract for Eshan Café, a company owned by his wife Nargis Khanum. Ghosh allegedly gave the work to Ali’s wife’s company through a “pre-determined manner”.
Investigators were also surprised to find that the bid amount by participating companies for the café was handwritten on the bids. Handwriting experts confirmed that these amounts were written by a single person.
Ghosh, in an attempt to favour Ali, had even returned the “non-refundable caution money” to Eshan Café. He did not even charge any penal amount to the café.