The Delhi Police, with the help of the National Health Authority (NHA), on Tuesday busted a recruitment scam in Gurugram that offered jobs in Ayushman Bharat, a healthcare scheme for the poor and vulnerable sections of the population launched recently.
According to NHA, it came to know about the racket when prospective job seekers complained about getting fake letters that promised jobs in Ayushman Bharat, or PM-JAY.
The fraudulent activity started with the publishing of advertisements, providing a contact number to which the interested individuals were asked to send their bio-data and other details. These individuals were then sent a fake appointment letter on the professional letterhead that closely resembled NHA/PM-JAY letterheads with the respective logos/official stamps, an NHA statement said.
Subsequently, the victims received letters saying that they have been shortlisted and training for the job would start shortly. The candidates were then advised to deposit a sum of ₹12,500 towards training costs into an SBI bank account in Gurugram.
On receiving a couple of calls enquiring about such training, NHA swung into action and unearthed the source of the scam. Delhi Police was informed subsequently.
“Ayushman Bharat is a free healthcare scheme and will never ask any individual to deposit money either for a job opportunity or insurance e-card registration. Such fraudulent activities go against the entire NHA’s system as well as our efforts. Hence, we request our colleagues in the media to verify the source of information before publishing an advertisement related to the PM-JAY Ayushman Bharat Scheme in their esteemed publications,” said NHA CEO Indu Bhushan.
The police have arrested several people involved in the racket, it said.