IAS OFFICER OBJECTS TO RS 30 CRORES FOR MOHALLA CLINIC AD, LATER TRANSFERRED

Yet again, bureaucrat and Punjab Government at loggerheads against each other. This time an IAS Ajoy Sharma is slapped with transfer after he refused to permit Mohalla Clinic promotions costing Rs 30 Crore. IAS refused and objected to permit publicity proposal as the Aam Aadmi Clinic development expenditure was Rs 10 Crore only. Now IAS Sharma is shown as corrupt officer and said to be under investigation as part of the ongoing campaign against bribery in Punjab. CM Punjab Bhagwant Mann has ordered an inquiry against Ajoy Sharma in connection with the purchase and sale of machines in the health department. According to the sources, the Chief Secretary of Punjab has also questioned Ajoy Sharma in this regard. However, in the interrogation of the Chief Secretary of Punjab, IAS Ajoy Sharma has denied any kind of rigging in the purchase and sale of machines. He has not even shied away from the investigation in this regard. CM Punjab issued orders to investigate the matter only after this. According to sources, the people who came forward for the tender of the machines in the health department, where there is a possibility of manipulation in the purchase and sale, were known to Ajoy Sharma. However, this has not been proved at the moment. Significantly, IAS Ajoy Sharma had objected to spending Rs 30 crore for the promotion of Aam Aadmi Clinic in the past. The government has so far spent Rs 10 crore on the promotion of these clinics. Ajoy Sharma was instrumental in getting the first over 100 Aam Aadmi Clinics started within three months after the formation of the AAP government. Because during that time he had the additional responsibility of the then Finance Commissioner and Taxation, but it is said that this time Sharma refused to give administrative approval to the budget of Rs 30 crore for the promotion of more than 400 Aam Aadmi clinics.