In February 2023, Lucknow hosted the Global Investors Summit — Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s marquee pitch to investors. By the time it concluded, 19,250 MoUs had been signed, with proposed investments worth Rs 33.52 lakh crore. One of those signatures belonged to Obdu Digital Health Care Private Limited.

Obdu had committed to a Rs 3,350-crore project: a network of “Digital Doctors Clinics” in rural Uttar Pradesh, promising AI-enabled consultations, low-cost medicines, and round-the-clock doctor access in the state’s most underserved villages. By February 2024, the Yogi government was listing Obdu among 14,701 industrial units at its fourth Ground Breaking Ceremony, with the project officially in its “grounding,” or implementation, stage – one of many cited in a government narrative about 15.53 lakh new jobs. The deal with Obdu alone was expected to generate around 70,000 jobs.

That narrative has since begun to unravel. 

Obdu now faces a fraud FIR based on a complaint naming four “defrauded” investors. 

A separate complaint on behalf of over 40 individuals has been sent to the Vibhuti Khand police station in Lucknow, to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak. This complaint alleges a trail of unopened clinics, bounced cheques, and unanswered phones. 

Two other complaints on behalf of individual investors have been sent to the same police station in Lucknow. 

No FIR has been filed in these three complaints yet.

A government stamp put to work

Investors and complainants claim the company made highly effective use of its government association to build credibility.

Obdu’s promotional catalogue opened with material from the Global Investors Summit – a message from Chief Minister Adityanath, a message from the then Principal Secretary of the Health Department, a photograph of the signed MoU, and newspaper clippings about the deal. 

On Instagram and other social media, the company repeatedly highlighted its association with the UP government. The company’s website claimed that the Digital Doctors Clinic project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on February 19, 2024. Newslaundry could not ascertain the veracity of the claim.

“The material they provided carried photographs of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In such circumstances, who would not trust them?” said Ajay Pratap Singh, who runs the NGO Nagrik Utthan Seva Samiti in Gonda. Singh told Newslaundry he was contacted by an Obdu representative who offered him a commission for every clinic he helped establish in Gonda district. 

Based on Singh’s complaint, an FIR was registered at Khargupur police station in Gonda on April 28 this year against Obdu Digital Health Care director Sanjay Kumar under Section 316(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The........

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