‘Donors got mixer grinders, cash’: blood banks in Bengal under scanner over ‘illegal’ sale to other States
At least six blood banks in West Bengal are under investigation for allegedly operating an illegal, multi-crore racket involving the unauthorized sale of blood and plasma to other states. Authorities have barred 11 facilities from organizing donation drives after discovering that donors were being incentivized with cash and household appliances, which violates the National Blood Policy.
Why it matters
This investigation exposes significant regulatory failures in the blood supply chain, potentially compromising the safety and ethical standards of medical services across multiple Indian states.
At least six blood banks in West Bengal are under investigation for allegedly selling blood to individuals and private blood banks outside the State in what Health Department officials have described as an inter-State, multi-crore racket.
The sale of blood is prohibited under the National Blood Policy, which was introduced in 2002. Officials said raids have been conducted at blood banks in Kolkata, Howrah, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Nadia, and North Dinajpur districts over the past two weeks and large quantities of plasma were found to have been sold to entities in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, among other States.
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