In an attempt to plug leakages in purchase of medicines, besides creating transparency and put an end to corruption, the state government has decided to constitute Uttar Pradesh Medical Supplies Corporation to promote centralised purchase of medicines and equipment for government hospitals and health centres. 

 Decision regarding this was taken in the cabinet meeting held here today.Health Minister and Government spokesperson Sidharthnath Singh said there were reports of pilferage of government money during purchase of medicines and equipment for the state-run hospitals as 80 per cent of the purchase was done in district and the rest only 20 per cent was centralized. “The purchase system will now be centralized that will be monitored by UP Medical Supplies Corporation. The purchase will be done through e-tendering. The lowest bidder will get the order,” the spokesperson said, adding that this system prevails in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan and this is found to be very effective in plugging leakages. The Corporation will be headed by an IAS officer. 
Earlier, medicines and equipment were purchased through rate contract and the system was not centralised as bulk of the purchase (around 80 per cent) was carried out in districts. This made the post of CMO very lucrative. In this fiscal medicine, purchase has a budget of Rs 817 crore of which Rs 500 crore is the State Government's share and rest Rs 317 crore is NRHM share, Mr Singh said. 

There is also a fund of Rs 400 crore for purchase of equipment. He, however, said the new system would take at least a year to come up and till then the old system would continue. In another decision, the Government has decided to introduce CM Panchayat Protsahan Yojana under which the villages that excelled in providing basic amenities like water, solar power, sewerage line and school would be awarded. “Three villages from each block will be identified for this award. As there are 821 blocks in UP, the total number of villages that stand benefited are 2,463,” the spokesperson said, adding that this is a first step in making our Panchayat `smart’. The total budget of this project is Rs 15 crore. The cabinet has approved Rs 791.8 crore under PM Krishi Sinchai watershed Development programme. There were 612 schemes under this programme. 

Earlier, the Central Government used to finance 90 per cent of the schemes while the state’s share was just 10 per cent. 
Under the 14th Finance Commission, the Center’s share has come down to 60 per cent with the result the financial burden on the state has increased. 
“The cabinet has approved this enhanced financial burden of Rs 791.8 crore,” Mr Singh said. The Government has also decided to give 450 sq meter (appx 1 acre) of nazool land to Prasar Bharati for setting up of 10 kw FM station of AIR in Sultanpur. This project will come up in Mirazpur village. 
The spokesperson said that AIR had proposed this project on March 20 last and the cabinet has given its approval in the cabinet meeting.