The World Bank has alleged that former Orissa health minister Bijoyshri Routray received kickbacks in the approximately Rs 320-crore Orissa Health System Development Project (OHSDP) which began in 1998-99 and extended till March 2006.

A team of World Bank officials met Orissa Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathi in the state capital today and informed him that in 2005, the then health minister had taken a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a supplier. Speaking to The Indian Express, Tripathi said the World Bank team did not have the name of the minister. But Routray was the health minister at that time. He was dropped from the ministry in a Cabinet reshuffle in 2006.

Tripathi said a final decision would be taken by the Chief Minister. The World Bank team included its south Asia director John A Rommi and Ravi Shankar.

When contacted, Routray reacted angrily and alleged that he had been made a scapegoat. “How can they take my name when a vigilance inquiry is being conducted by the government. A month back, fingers were being pointed at some other people, and all of sudden my name comes up. It is a conspiracy, and the government should come up with some concrete proof to prove any corruption or crime,” said Routray, son of former Chief Minister Nilamani Routray.

Between 1997-2003, the World Bank had provided assistance worth $300 million for health sector programmes to different state governments. Orissa received aid worth $82 million (approximately Rs 320 crore) for implementation of five programmes — malaria control project, food and drug capacity building, second national HIV/ AIDS control project, tuberculosis control project and Orissa health system development project.

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