Ahmedabad: Dr Jitu Lal Meena, one of the eight officials of the Union health ministry, named in an FIR filed by CBI in the nation-wide scam busted for favourable inspection of medical colleges for bribes, has a Gujarat connection.

Sources say Meena, the joint director and division head (SPE) of National Health Authority, spent many years working in the state health department before his stint in the Union health ministry. As per his declaration of assets and liabilities in 2023, Dr Meena has a house and building located on PDPU Road, Raysan in Gandhinagar.Dr Meena and other officials allegedly facilitated unauthorised access to, and unlawful duplication and dissemination of, confidential files and sensitive information pertaining to the regulatory status and internal processing of medical colleges within the ministry.Local health department sources said that after completing his MBBS from Rajasthan, Dr Meena registered himself as a medical professional with the Gujarat Medical Council. His began working as medical officer at a public health centre (PHC) in Gujarat 2000. He also served as the district quality health assurance officer, handled portfolio of reproductive child health and served as the quality assurance medical officer for the Gujarat govt.

He went to New Delhi on central deputation nearly a decade ago and served in different capacities in the Union health ministry.In 2022, Dr Meena was appointed member of the National Medical Commission (NMC) and also penned a book titled "Dr J L Meena: PHC to NMC".Local sources in the medical education fraternity said that in recent past, complaints against Dr Meena and others about irregularities in medical inspection to favour certain colleges had risen.

"Last year, 2,400-odd medical colleges applied for PG seats. To favour certain colleges, Dr Meena allegedly bypassed scrutiny process citing lack of time and granted PG seats to 1,400-odd colleges," said a senior official.With regards to the scam busted by the CBI, the central agency probe alleges Dr Meena entered into a "criminal conspiracy" with Dr Virendra Kumar and Shri Indra Bali Mishra, alias ‘Guruji'. This conspiracy, according to the FIR, "They, in criminal conspiracy with each other, extorted substantial amounts of illegal gratification from various private medical colleges in exchange for granting them undue regulatory favours", the FIR states.The mechanics of the scheme involved a complex money trail: "The bribe amounts were routed to Dr Kumar in Delhi through hawala channels" the FIR states. It further adds, "On multiple occasions, Shivam Pandey, resident of Noida, under the instructions of his brother-in-law Indra Bali Mishra collected bribe amounts from Dr Kumar and delivered the same to Dr Meena at his residential premises."Dr Meena has been constructing a Hanuman temple at Mohcha Ka Pura, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, through his ill-gotten money and the construction cost (approx Rs 75 lakh) has been paid to the contractor Shri Bhikalal r/o Dausa, Rajasthan, through hawala channel out of the collected bribe money by Dr Kumar on behalf of Dr Meena".