CBI charge sheet against Uttar Pradesh ex-minister

Ghaziabad, May 31 (IANS) The CBI Thursday filed a charge sheet in a court here against former Uttar Pradesh health minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and his associate R.P. Jaiswal for lapses in fund allocation under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme.

Kushwaha and Jaiswal, present in judicial custody, were named in the charge sheet which was submitted before Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge A.K. Singh.

The CBI registered a case against Kushwaha and others for allegedly causing a loss of crores of rupees in the upgradation of 134 district hospitals.

During the probe, the CBI claimed that the misappropriation of funds was Rs.7.94 crore.

The materials used in the hospitals were found to be of inferior and sub-standard quality thereby causing a loss to the exchequer, the CBI alleged.

The CBI was also granted four days' remand of four other accused, arrested in Lucknow Wednesday, presented before the court.

The four accused are Vipin Kumar Chaudhary, M.M. Tripathi, Vipin Kumar Gupta and A.K. Srivastava. They sent to CBI custody.

The investigating agency has filed 13 cases over the alleged irregularities in utilising Rs.10,000 crore funds allocated under the centrally-sponsored NRHM to Uttar Pradesh.