Condom scam unearthed in state
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=204505

Health dept finds NGOs supplied spurious condoms to high-risk groups
and claimed money from the state government by showing inflated bills
Ravik Bhattacharya

Kolkata, october 8: The lid was opened from a shocking scam involving
NGOs working for prevention of HIV after the state government
recently found that the former had made money by supplying rejected
condoms to high-risk groups, including sex workers, truckers and men
who have sex with men (MSMs).

An investigation by the state government has revealed that the NGOs
supposed to distribute condoms among the high-risk groups are not
only buying spurious condoms, but also sending inflated bills to the
government and claiming money.

The gross malpractice for the past two years was discovered by the
Health department a few months back during the tenure of S. Suresh
Kumar, who was the then director of West Bengal State HIV AIDS
Prevention and Control Society. Soon after, Kumar launched an
investigation.

However, even after unearthing the scam, the department is yet to
concentrate on central procurement of condoms and medicines.

"The condoms we found were repackaged ones with no quality standards.
They were made illegally at Bagri market. The NGOs bought them in
bulk and distributed them," said Kumar, currently working with
National AIDS Control Organisation in Delhi.

"A section of NGOs usurped lakhs by distributing false medicines and
rejected condoms, which is unpardonable. You cannot play with
people's lives, since condom distribution and medicine supply for
patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are the mainstay in
our fight against HIV-AIDS. After the NGOs were caught, the central
procurement system was put in place, but recently they are trying to
discontinue it. We are all for central procurement by the
government," said Debapriya Mullick, adviser, NGO-AIDS Coalition, a
private body which keeps the liaison between the NGOs and the
government.

According to Health department sources, the samples of condoms
distributed among sex workers and truckers in different parts of the
state were collected and sent for tests in a laboratory in Chennai.
They were found to be rejected and sub-standard.

Sex workers in red-light areas across the state, and truckers on the
highways were given such condoms, which were duplicates of foreign
brands. During investigation, it was also revealed that such condoms
had a clandestine manufacturing unit-cum-market in Bagri area of
Burrabazar, where foreign labels were pasted on the packets. The NGOs
made bulk purchases from this market.

"These condoms had pictures of nude women on the covers, with the
labels announcing that they were foreign made. These were very cheap
compared to the authentic ones. Each NGO forwarded bills worth lakhs
for such condoms," said a highly placed officer in the West Bengal
State HIV-AIDS Control Society.