Coming after Mumbai’s JJ blood bank case: Sackings, FIR, SOP and QR tracking

Mumbai: Two officials of the state-run JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank, the largest in Maharashtra, have been sacked over allegations of irregularities in the handling and distribution of blood units, it was announced in the council on Monday.“Their services are being terminated and an FIR is being registered,” minister of state for health Meghana Bordikar told the house.The Mahanagar blood bank was sealed on Friday by the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to severe blood safety violations.On Monday, allegations of serious irregularities in the handling and distribution of blood units at the blood bank came under sharp scrutiny following a calling attention motion moved by MLC Chitra Wagh.

The motion flagged that of 77 blood bags collected during a donation camp in Chinchpokli, nearly 50 to 55 units were allegedly transferred to a private blood bank in Badlapur without authorisation.Bordikar responded, terming the lapse as “serious and illegal” and added that the bank’s nodal officer Dr Hitesh Pagare and another official, Ajay Bhise, had been found guilty. “Their services are being terminated,” she told the house.

She said that to prevent recurrence, the state will introduce a standard operating procedure (SOP) for all blood banks and roll out QR code-based tracking of blood packets to ensure traceability from collection to utilisation.The minister noted that blood banks operate under licences issued after inspection by FDA, and Maharashtra currently has 417 such facilities. She also announced that a third-party audit of blood banks across the state is being planned.Separately, the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) has ordered recovery of Rs 55,000—calculated at Rs 1,100 per bag—for the 50 units alleged to have been diverted, from the staff responsible. The complaint also points to discrepancies between the number of units collected at donation camps over the past three years and those recorded in the official registry of the JJ blood bank, prompting demands for an independent audit.Raising the issue, Wagh sought a full accounting of collection and utilisation, alleging the existence of a “blood mafia.” Concerns were also raised over patient welfare, with complaints that patients suffering from thalassemia, hemophilia and sickle cell anaemia faced harassment despite possessing valid donor cards, leading to financial and mental distress.