Bribe demanded for reimbursement of my medical bills: Ex-minister Sartaj Singh

Bhopal: Former Union health minister and senior BJP MLA in Madhya Pradesh Satraj Singh on Monday alleged that some officials at the state secretariat demanded bribe to reimburse his medical expenses.

“One of my aides recently went to Vallabh Bhawan (the secretariat) to get my medical bills reimbursed. He rang me up saying the officials there were demanding `commission’,” Singh told a news agency.

“I asked him to throw the file containing the bills there and come back,” the 78-year-old leader said.

“What happened afterwards I do not know,” he added. “If this is the situation of an MLA, what would be the plight of common people,” Singh said.

“My medical reimbursement claim was of last month. I was treated at National Hospital here for a week from February 14,” he said.

“This is a serious issue. Money exchanging hands (at government offices) has become common. The situation has come to such a pass that people say take the money but do our work,” the MLA said.

“The administration needs to be tightened up,” he added.

Asked for a comment, Madhya Pradesh Health Secretary Kavindra Kiyawat said MLAs send their bills for reimbursement to the Assembly secretariat and not to Vallabh Bhawan.

“I don’t have any knowledge of the MLA’s allegations. The matter hasn’t come to our notice,” he said.

Singh, who was dropped from the state cabinet last year, reportedly because of his age, also said he will not contest elections anymore.

“I am not going to contest any election in future,” he said. The state would be having Assembly elections by year-end.