Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, on Monday, ruled out a probe into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of COVID-related equipment, as demanded by the opposition leaders, saying they were only making "baseless allegations" to demoralise the officers fighting the pandemic.
Health Minister B. Sriramulu, who gave an account of the COVID-related purchases, offered to resign from his post, if any of his claims were found to be false.
The two ministers countered the Congress party's claims of rampant corruption worth Rs 2,200 crore by the ruling BJP, by providing a detailed cost break-up for the purchase of ventilators, PPE kits, N95 masks, sanitisers and surgical gloves.
"The health department has spent only Rs 290 crore and the medical education department has spent another Rs 33 crore for the procurement of equipment since March, and have not flouted any norms. In fact, our government has managed to procure enough equipment during trying times, when the production of PPEs and ventilators was seriously inadequate due to soaring demand," argued Dr. Ashwath Narayan, who accused the opposition leaders of creating an issue when there was none.
"Leader of opposition Siddaramaiah alleged that we purchased ventilators worth Rs 120 crore. But, since March we have bought only 748 ventilators at a total cost of Rs 10.61 crore. Siddaramaiah is desperate to become the chief minister for the second time. So, he is making a desperate attempt to target our government," charged Sriramulu.
Elaborating on the purchases, additional chief secretary Jawed Akhtar recalled the tough phase during the outbreak of the pandemic and how the government had constituted technical committees for need assessment and price fixation to facilitate timely procurement.
"In March, PPE kits and N95 masks were not being manufactured in India. Karnataka produced only 4,000-5,000 litres of hand sanitisers a day, which has been scaled up to 3.50 lakh litres today. When the production is low, the cost remains high. Four months back, we had to pay Rs 250 for a 500ml bottle of santiser. The same costs Rs 100 today. The PPEs, which costed Rs 1,444, now costs Rs 535. The number of manufacturers for these products has considerably increased now," said Akhtar.
Clarifying on the cost variation in the ventilators, Sriramulu pointed out that the ventilator specification is what determines the cost. "We received 640 ventilators free of cost from the Centre, and we placed the order for 130 standard ventilators with Mysuru-based Skanray Technologies, which provided 80 units at a cost of Rs 5.60 lakh per unit. Another 28 high-end ventilators for the ICUs were procured at Rs 3.33 crore. Till date we have purchased 9.65 lakh PPE kits at a total cost of Rs 71.35 crore. We started procuring PPEs with six and 10 components for better safety after the doctors raised safety concerns over the use of four-component PPE kits," said Sriramulu.
Dismissing the charges of nepotism and exorbitant cost of procurement, the minister said, "The state drug and logistics department has procured from the suppliers identified by the ministries of health and family welfare and textiles as they have the ICMR approval. The local purchases were made from suppliers who have participated in our previous bids."
"In March, the manufacturers were few and supply was erratic owing to the lockdown hampering the production. We are now procuring at competitive prices," assured Ashwath Narayan, adding that the government would once again place all the facts before the assembly.
The opposition leaders maintained that their claims about misappropriation of funds was true. "Sriramulu should have stepped down long back as there has been corruption since day one," said Siddaramaiah.
KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar added that his party would not remain a mute spectator to corruption and would "expose" the BJP government.
