Arjun Singh Sengar Kumbh Mela health officer, told TOI. "The agency was supposed to submit the samples to two private labs. The labs are also under probe. "As per health secretary Amit Negi, the report has been forwarded to the Haridwar DM. "Several irregularities have been found. We will take action after receiving a detailed report from the DM in 15 days. Haridwar DM C Ravishnkar said he was probing the matter and pending payment of all agencies has been put on hold until further notice. An official said the 200 sample collectors employed by the agency turned out to be students and data entry operators in Rajasthan, who had never been to Haridwar. "A sample collector has to be physically present to collect samples, he said. One sample collector was someone enrolled in a skill development training programme at a government authorised centre in hanumangarh (Rajasthan). Upon inquiry, he told us that he had never been to Kumbh. He said he had been given the data by his instructor who had asked him to upload it as part of his training, according to the report. As per officials, this is "just the tip of the iceberg" since eight more sample collection agencies were tasked to conduct tests by the state government after the HC directed Uttarkhand to carry out at least 50,000 tests daily during Kumbh. The festival was held from April 1 to 30 in Haridwar. The four lakh tests in this period were conducted by nine agencies and 22 private labs. Majority of these tests were antigen tests. The state department also conducted its own tests through government labs. Of the 1 lakh tests conducted by the agency under scanner, 177 were "Covid positive a positivity rate of only 0.18%. In contrast, the positivity rate in Haridwar in April went upto 10%. Test results by other agencies are also being probed now, said a health department official.
