Having been In the fray of politics lor nearly 40 years, health minister Salauddln Yusuf, regarded as one of the non-performers in Cabinet, got a year-end treat to be reduced to a minister without portfolio.
Sources said his removal frouk the ministry of health on December 29 qame as no surprise as he himself dug his grave by putting this key ministry into total disarray.
The World Bank in its annual performance report was highly critical of poor performance of the healtn ministry In certain crucial areas.
An earlier Bank report had said some of the audit reports still remained unresolved. Experts also criticised the health minister for not being serious enough in utilising resources In the right place and in the right time.
Sources said. Yusuf set his eyes on procurement of different kinds of medical equipment right after he assumed office. He would dig into all files related to purchases to make sure suppliers of his choice get the contracts. He would not even hesitate to award contracts violating all norms of his high office and put pressure on officials to bow to his verbal' orders.
On many occasions Yusuf ignored advice of senior officials in taking vital decisions. He even transferred overnight mid-level administrators one after another who dared to differ on controversial orders.
Some of the latest examples are removal of primary healthcare director Dr Zakir Hossain, who according to sources contributed a lot towards drawing up the health reform programme. Hossain was dumped as an officer-on-special-duty (OSD).
Soon after Yusuf took office he fired the then director general. health directorate. Prof A K Shamsuddin Siddique and made him OSD until he retired after two and a half years. Sid dique's fault was that he did not
By Nairrtul Haq
share the minister's views.
The chief of finance in health directorate. Dr Manila/. Huq, also faced his wrath, an instant transfer order, as she refused to sign controversial fi nancial documents The dlrec tor of hospital and clinic division Dr All Zafar was removed within two months of his posting after he refused to comply with his verbal' orders, sources said.
Zafar, also head of technical committee dealing with all foreign medical equipment purchases of central medical stores depot (CMSD), did not entertain request to award certain contracts to firms Yusuf favoured, sources said.
Director general of health services Prof AKM Nurul Anwar was yet another victim He was removed and made OSD Just one and a half years before his retirement.
The state minister for health Prof M Amanullah remained a silent spectator io all the events as he was hardly allowed to take any decisions in matters although he had been responsible for affairs of family planning wing of the ministry, they said.
He used as tools some key executives of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) and a number of his well-wishers' in inviting any contract and making posting' and recruitment.
The latest example of Yusufs way of doing business came to surface when he called a meeting to discuss purchase of, equipment for Dhaka Shishu Hospital from a French company without a decision to float tender, sources said.
The local ANZ Grindlays Bank agreed to provide a loan of Tk 150 crore to finance the purchase provided the government stood guarantor. All except one stood against such an unfair purchase offer, one source said.
Sources said if there was a deal, the minister would have pocketed about Tk two crore.
Similarly, a Spanish com-f>anv offered to provide tied oari’ for building and equipping a specialised hospital in Khalishpur in Khulna, where the minister comes from. The proposal said all purchases had to be made from Spain.
To seal the deal. Yusuf even maneuvered to persuade the prime minister to lay the foundation stone of the hospital which was still in papers.
"This was in violation of government rules. The government accepts only grants but does not accept loans for hospitals. But the minister ordered that relevant documents be prepared in favour of the project," said one top health ministry official.
The proposal bounced back from the External Resources Division (ERD) unapproved despite a vigorous campaign by the minister. The World Bank also refused to accept the proposal as the hospital designs lacked the minimum details.
The suspension of 12 civil surgeons Is a solid example of his corrupt practices. About Tk 20 crore was spent without approval of the authorities. Wno gave the civil surgeons the flexibility to spend such an amount of money without prior permission was the question many