No corruption in Covid purchases, no probe needed: Minister
Baseless oppn charges demoralising corona warriors: Sudhakar
BENGALURU:
There has been not a single instance of corruption or deviation in procurement of Covid-19 equipment by the state government, and hence there is no need for an investigation, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said in the assembly on Wednesday.
Responding to allegations of purchase irregularities by opposition members, Sudhakar said the market price had varied according to demand. “We procured PPE kits at Rs 575 in July. During the initial stages, when there was huge demand and no domestic production, we procured 3 lakh PPE kits from China. Later, locally manufactured and ICMR-approved kits were procured. Similar procedures have been followed by other states as well. Earlier we were short of sanitizers, but after talks with distillery owners, the demand has been met thereby reducing the scarcity,” the minister said.
“The baseless allegations by opposition parties have demoralised officials. We must fight this pandemic together and everyone should cooperate in this fight against Covid-19,” Sudhakar said.
‘Huge increase in beds’
Regarding the government’s preparedness, he said that by April 9 there were 31 hospitals with 5,665 beds reserved for Covid patients. In government hospitals, there were 3,215 oxygen beds to which 15,380 beds were added, making it a six-fold increase in oxygen beds in government hospitals.
Hospitals under the Medical Education Department earlier had 4,360 oxygen beds, to which 4,735 beds were added for a total of 9,095 beds. Both departments put together now have 28,140 oxygen beds, the minister said.
‘No rest for medicos’
On the issue if Covid management, he said, “For the last 7 months we have been working tirelessly. Medicos are working round the clock without availing leave even for a single day. Karnataka was a model state during the lockdown period. Considering the difficulties of poor and daily wagers, we lifted the lockdown. Covid cases have increased due to migrant workers coming in from Maharashtra and other states.”
Other points by Sudhakar
• Ventilators procured by Tamil Nadu are transport ventilators used in ambulance. It is not correct to compare our ventilators with those of Tamil Nadu.
• Different specifications and different quality ventilators are available at different prices.
• Opposition parties are using the situation for political mileage and this is demoralising officials and corona warriors who are working on a war footing.
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