In continuation of the crackdown against alleged large-scale corruption during the Covid-19 pandemic when the BJP government was in power in Karnataka, the Bengaluru Police has registered an FIR against former officials of the state’s Department of Medical Education (DME). Criminal breach of trust and conspiracy.
An FIR was registered on Friday against DME officials, including former director Dr PG Girish, joint director (accounts) GC Raghu and unidentified elected representatives, based on a complaint filed by Chief Accounts Officer Dr M Vishnuprasad.
The complaint alleges corruption in the purchase of 15.51 lakh personal protective equipment (PPE) kits worth Rs 203 crore and 42.15 lakh N-95 masks worth Rs 9.75 crore during 2020-21 when Dr K Sudhakar, the current MP from Chikballapur, was the Minister of Medical Education.
According to the police complaint, the state government had on August 18, 2020 allowed the DME to procure 2.59 lakh N-95 masks and 2.59 lakh PPE kits for its staff in 17 medical colleges and one super specialty hospital, and the procurement said. The procurement should be under the Karnataka procurement laws and should not exceed an estimated Rs 41.35 crore.
A firm named Laj Exports was awarded the tender on September 7, 2020 to supply PPE kits at Rs 1,312.50 each. According to the police complaint, there is no record of supply of these purchased materials to the above-mentioned institutions. of payment.
A firm named Prudent Management Solutions Mumbai was paid Rs 41.34 crore for the supply of 2.59 lakh PPE kits as stipulated in the tender. Besides, 55,784 additional PPE kits worth Rs 7.32 crore were also procured from the firm without a tender process.
DME is alleged to have made five separate purchases of PPE kits without any purchase order and no record of usage.
On December 20, 2020, the Director of Medical Education procured PPE kits and N-95 masks worth Rs 23.31 crore, another order was issued on March 20, 2021, to purchase 91,450 kits and masks for Rs 12 crore and more. On March 29, 2021, another order was issued for kits worth Rs 49.01 crore, it said. complaint
The police complaint states that Rs 13.16 crore was paid to Prudential Management Solutions Mumbai before the government issued a special payment to the Directorate of Medical Education. There is a complaint that although the government transferred the funds to the Medical Education Department on December 22, 2020, the funds were transferred to a private firm on November 20, 2020.
The FIR against the DME officials follows the interim report of a committee headed by a retired Karnataka High Court judge set up by the Congress government to probe corruption in medical procurement during the Covid crisis during the BJP tenure.
Report of the committee on covid-19 corruption
The Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission’s interim report on corruption in procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic was submitted to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on August 31, and the Cabinet decided in October to set up an SIT to deal with cases arising out of the report.
The commission found irregularities in procurement worth Rs 7,223 crore by agencies like the state health department, National Health Mission, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and others.
One of the major findings of the report is the alleged irregularities in the import of 3 lakh PPE kits from China in 2020 which the committee found at the behest of then Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and Health Minister B Sriramulu. Imports overpaid Rs 14 crore as transportation costs, the panel found, in addition to overpaying Rs 1.22 crore for PPE kits.
The committee recommended action against Yeddyurappa and Sreeramulu on corruption charges, as well as disciplinary action against the then Additional Director of the State Logistics and Procurement Agency involved in procurement of the health department.
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