Exclusive: Babies of CRPF personnel given expired vaccines, probe ordered


At least four out of 50 children of CRPF personnel called for a vaccination drive during the lockdown were given expired vaccines at a camp in Saket here on May 16.

The four children are said to be under six months old; the youngest is a month-and-a-half-old baby boy.

India Today TV has accessed a handwritten letter sent by the distressed families to the CRPF’s (Central Reserve Police Force) top officer, Director General Anand Prakash Maheshwari.

The names of the children and their relatives are being withheld.

The families have asked why expired vaccines were given to the children, and why a CRPF doctor wasn’t present when they were being administered.

Why, they ask, is there an attempt to hush up the case by officials advising them to let go?

They add: would the same treatment be meted out to children of senior officials?

An emotional letter written by wives of CRPF personnel says the incident took place when their spouses were away on national duty.

A commandant-rank officer has alleged a scam. Families were asked shell out more than the market price, the officer said: polio drops that cost Rs 50 were administered for Rs 300.

The officer alleged that the doctor was close to a Deputy Commandant in the SDG (Special Duty Group), CRPF, and that misappropriation of funds is suspected.

DG AP Maheshwari ordered an enquiry into the incident after the letter reached the CRPF headquarters.

In a statement, the CRPF said, “An enquiry has been ordered by CRPF Medical Directorate and a report is likely to be received soon and findings of the report will be taken to their logical end as per the facts.”

The force said the immunisation program “was not an official one”.

“Around 50 children of SDG (Special Duty Group) and CRPF were due for vaccination, but [the vaccines] could not be administered due to the lockdown,” the CRPF said.

“Parents of these children…tied up with a clinic and [were] facilitated into the camp to vaccinate after observing Covid protocols. It is learnt that 4 doses out of 116 got expired [at the end of] last month.”

However, the angry families say this is not the case. “Neither CRPF authorities nor the DM of Saket area — nor any other local authority — was intimated about the mass vaccination drive during the lockdown.”

At least 600 families live in the CRPF quarters in Sector 4 of Pushp Vihar.

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