Governments often come up with several schemes and initiatives for the welfare of its citizens. But what happens when such schemes are misused for selfish motives? In yet another case of treachery and embezzlement of public money, a nurse from Assam faked 85 deliveries and cashed in Rs 40,000.
The Assam government’s scheme to promote safer childbirth awards Rs 500 to every woman who chooses to deliver at a rural health centre. Lily Begam Laskar, who works at a government hospital in Assam, sensed an ‘opportunity’ in this scheme. She showed about 160 deliveries at the state-run clinic, in which she registered herself as the mother in half those cases.
“We discovered the fraud after we decided on an inspection after receiving an anonymous tip off, probably from someone who works at the hospital . What we found was absolutely incredibly. The lady faked 85 pregnancies in her name. What also helped her was that she was also in charge of payments so it was not that easy to detect,” said Sarfaraz Haque, a senior government official in the rural Karimganj district, as reported by NDTV .
Laskar, who has confessed to the crime, was suspended on September 17. However, she defended her action saying, ” You see, there is a lot of pressure on nurses like us. We obviously don’t get compensated properly for all the work we do,” reports NDTV .