Thiruvananthapuram: Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) report which was placed before the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday revealed that during the Covid time, the Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sold the PPE kit at exorbitant prices.
The report revealed that the PPE kit – which was available for Rs 550 – was not purchased and was purchased at a cost of Rs 1550 which caused a loss of Rs 10 crores.
In March 2020, the first COVID-19-positive case in the country was reported in Kerala.
Kerala Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the then Health Minister K.K. Shailaja were the prime culprits in this massive fraud while the CPI-M dismissed it as nothing but political witch-hunting by the Centre.
“We had brought up this issue already and now the CAG has endorsed this massive scam. We will take this up as we did back then. At present there is a case to this effect going on. Shailaja cleared the order for PPE kits after getting the green signal from Vijayan,” said Satheesan.
He added that three companies had agreed to supply one PPE kit for Rs 500, but the order was given to San Pharma at Rs 1550 per PPE kit.
“Shailaja herself in the past had admitted that the order was given on Vijayan’s directions. Importantly, a 100 per cent advance was paid to San Pharma. What we raised in 2021-22 has now been proved right by the CAG,” added Satheesan.
However, by dismissing the scam as political witch-hunting, CPI-M leader K. Anilkumar said where were these people (CAG) all this while.
“The Centre is using organisations to haunt the CPI-M government and this is the latest example,” said Anilkumar.
S.S. Lal an accomplished health expert who worked with the WHO said this is nothing but blatant day-light robbery on the part of the Kerala government.
“The Health Department is a gold mine for those who are engaged in purchases. Even though I have my own politics, in this aspect I am speaking as a health expert. The CAG has come out correctly against the Kerala government,” said Lal who was the Congress candidate at the 2021 Assembly polls.
(IANS)
