Need for a powerful Lokayukta, active citizens

Covid-19 is wreaking havoc in Karnataka, just like the rest of the world. We have witnessed several heart-wrenching scenes over the past few months but the saddest incident during this crisis is the bureaucracy and politicians’ blatant and shameless indulgence in corruption, which shows their insensitivity towards the plight of the common people.

Apparently, it all began even before the nationwide lockdown was imposed. In early February, the Karnataka government went on a spending spree as it started taking measures to contain the pandemic. The government started placing orders for PPE kits, ventilators, sanitisers, masks and drugs to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees by bypassing the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, 1999, which ensures transparency in public procurement of goods and services by streamlining the procedure in inviting, processing and acceptance of tenders.

Sensing the irregularities in these purchases, some media outlets and whistle-blowers started publishing reports based on facts obtained through RTI and other sources. During a humanitarian crisis, the conduct, corruption and modus operandi of the people involved are both shocking and unimaginable.

Records show that the Karnataka State Drugs, Logistics and Warehousing Society (KDLWS) bought 15 ventilators at a cost of Rs ₹4 crore for use in state-run government hospitals. The supplied ventilators were found to be in poor condition, had no quality certificates, brochures or manufacturing details. Some were 7-13 years old and already in use in private hospitals. These ventilators did not have essential features needed for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

On October 19, 2019, the state government had placed an order with some companies for 47,000 units of sanitisers, at the price of Rs ₹97.44 per unit, which was approved in February 2020. The tender was valid for a period of 15 months. However, the company supplied only half of the goods worth Rs ₹22 lakh and declined to supply the rest. That was the time when Covid-19 began spreading in Karnataka.

Despite its failure to deliver, the same company got another order for sanitisers worth Rs 5 crore, priced at Rs 250 per unit. A total of Rs 19 crore was spent on sanitisers at such exorbitant prices from multiple suppliers in a short span of time.

The PPE kits and masks worth Rs 4 crore procured in March were of substandard quality and the suppliers are in the business of agro products and website design, with no prior history of dealing with medical equipment, which clearly arouses suspicion. IR Thermal Scanners were ordered at Rs 9,000 per unit, which retails at medical shops for Rs 3,000 per unit.

These cases of irregularities surfaced before the government ramped up its spending, shelling out huge sums of money on a multitude of medical equipment, drugs, and services.

With loads of documentary evidence to prove cases of corruption, the Karnataka Rashtra Samiti lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on May 12, against erring officials of the KDLWS. On the same day, another complaint was lodged with the state Public Accounts Committee.

Two months have passed and the ACB is still awaiting permission from the government to question the officers concerned.

In spite of widespread media coverage, the corruption continues unabated, with losses to the exchequer to the extent of thousands of crores of rupees.

In the absence of a powerful and independent Lokayukta, politicians and the bureaucracy neither have any fear nor a sense of guilt.

The society also seems to be oblivious to such a degradation of values in public life.

(The writer is the state president of Karnataka Rashtra Samiti, which has filed complaints against the government with the ACB)