Two years ago, the International Development Association conducted a detailed implementation review. The 150-page report said that a firm admitted paying Rs 5 lakh to the then Orissa health minister and other ministry officials to facilitate the payment of Rs 2.50 million in non-bank fund invoices. The team inspected 55 projects before submitting their report.

The review also found that Rs 111 crore had remained unutilised despite two years of extension of the project, the aim of which was to beef up district-level and sub-level hospitals. The implementation of the civil works indicated fraud — 93 per cent of the 55 project hospitals observed problems like uninitiated or incomplete work, severely leaking roofs, crumbling ceilings and molding walls and non-functional sewage system. Yet all of these were given completion certificates.

The team also found that some of the equipment purchased were sub-standard and procured from suppliers blacklisted by other state governments. The report identifies 17 types of equipment that violated project technical specifications, including five types that were hazardous. This includes autoclaves that could explode and neonatal equipment that lacked adequate electrical grounding exposing babies and medical staff to electrical shocks.

Recently, World Bank president Robert Zoellick had also said in Washington that their “probe has revealed unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption.”

On Sunday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that the state vigilance department would probe the charges, following demands for a CBI inquiry. He had said that the World Bank had been requested to furnish names of any ministers and officials involved in corruption during the implementation of the project. He had also announced a fact finding committee headed by the Chief Secretary for the purpose.