UP Health Scam: Agra Woman Falsely Listed as Giving Birth 25 Times, Sterilized 5 Times

The Startling Revelation: A Case Too Bizarre to Be True

In 2014, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report revealed that over ₹100 crore was misappropriated under JSY across 10 Indian states, with fake beneficiaries, ghost deliveries, and manipulated records resulting in a major scam.Representative Image: Pexels

Published on:

12 Apr 2025, 9:31 am

In a strange and chilling case of deceit, a 35-year-old woman from Agra in Uttar Pradesh was left stunned when she came to know that she had allegedly delivered 25 babies and had got herself sterilized five times — all within 30 months. Truth? She hadn't. The shocking revelation was made in a recent financial audit of the Fatehabad Community Health Centre (CHC), which revealed a scam of misuse of government health funds under the Janani Surakhsha Yojana (JSY) and Mahila Sterilisation Incentive Scheme.

How the scam was busted.

One Krishna Kumari woman had indeed delivered once at the Fatehabad CHC in 2017. She has had no contact with the centre or any information about the schemes since then. Health department staff members allegedly created forged documents in her name and used them to open a bank account. Maternity and post-natal care incentives of more than ₹45,000 were fraudulently credited into this account.

These government programs provide financial incentives to encourage institutional delivery and sterilization procedures — ₹1,400 for rural deliveries, ₹1,000 in urban areas, and ₹2,000 for sterilization. Health workers made false claims on Krishna's behalf, collecting the benefits as though she had undergone it many times.

Investigation: A web of collusion

Following the audit, a complaint was lodged formally at the Fatehabad police station. The five individuals had been named in the complaint: four of them were contractual employees at the CHC, and one was Krishna's village agent, Nagla Kadam. The accused were accused of conspiring to loot the schemes and siphon off the money.

Three of the five arrested so far are Gaurav Thapa (block programme manager), Neeraj Awasthi (block accounting manager), and local agent Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar was the first to be arrested and is said to have taken investigators to the CHC, leading to the arrest of the others.

Four accused, on contract, were posted at Fatehabad CHC while the fifth was an outsider. A thorough investigation is underway and efforts are on to find out whether there were more such cases.

Arun Srivastava, Chief Medical Officer

According to a 2019 NITI Aayog report, around 10–15% of public welfare scheme beneficiaries in India may be duplicates or fake identities.Representative Image: Pexels

Is it more than a local scam?

The probe is continuing, and more individuals may be implicated, Chief Medical Officer Arun Srivastava said. "It is unlikely that this fraud was perpetrated without the assistance of administrative staff, nurses or even doctors," he added. A health official further stated that the extent of coordination indicates a broader, more entrenched system of internal corruption.

Legal action and what's next?

All five accused have been charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Naya Sanhita (BNS), including:

318-4: cheating and dishonesty,

338: forgery of valuable documents such as wills and securities,

336: forgery or alteration of documents/electronic records with a view to committing fraud.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Muhammad Faisal Arshad/MSM)

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