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Mumbai: Noted consumer rights activist of NGO Grahak Bharati and Barrister Vinod Tiwari on Saturday alleged mega scam in issuing lakhs of fake RT-PCR test reports by illegal Pathology laboratories in the state. The noted lawyer and consumer rights activist argued that the frequent lockdowns and Covid-19 pandemic restrictions were clamped on the basis of data collected from RT-PCR testing and determination of Coronavirus patients in India.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Tiwari further alleged that these illegal Pathology laboratories have been functioning in violation of Clinical Establishment Act, 2010 as they are being operated by non-medical staff. These non-medical staff have been signing reports from hundreds of kilometres away.
Tiwari has alleged that unscrupulous persons are operating a stupendous racket of remotely located Franchisees Labs under recognised, approved Advanced Laboratories for Covid-19 test of which there are only 1,874 in India.
Very shockingly daily lakhs of RT-PCR Tests are being conducted by such fake franchise labs without proper authority and infrastructure. On February 4,.2022 in a single day alone16,03,856 tests were shown to be conducted.
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, so far since March 2020, such fake franchise labs have conducted 73,79,32,233 RT-PCR Tests, most of them fake and illegally conducted.
Based on such numbers, the government is deciding on imposing lockdown restrictions in various parts of the country, when the norms are based on such illegally conducted tests.
There is big corruption, malpractices and open loot continuing under the nose of the officials of Ministry of Public Health and Family Welfare and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) by approved Advanced Laboratories in India by fictitiously appointing Franchise Labs.
These Franchisee Labs are without any infrastructure, qualified postgraduate doctors, pathologist, microbiologist and other trained personnel compulsorily required for conducting RT-PCR tests and determination of Covid-19 patients.
The illegal fraudulent small, franchisee labs are situated thousands of miles away from the main laboratories for which RT-PCR test reports are being issued by the authorised medical professionals.
Tiwari has urged the Centre and the Maharashtra government to crack-down and stop these fake RT-PCR Tests and the ‘organised loot and crime’ at the earliest.
About the Author: Barrister Vinod Tiwari is a Nagpur based lawyer and is associated with Consumer Rights NGO Grahak Bharati. He can be contacted at Email ID:
