Siddaramaiah alleges scam in procurement of Covid-19 equipment; Sudhakar refutes

Leader of the Karnataka Opposition Siddaramaiah on Friday demanded a probe into alleged misappropriation of public money worth Rs 3,000 crore in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment, a charge the ruling BJP refuted.

“The government has spent about Rs 3,000 crore. Of this, there are irregularities to the tune of Rs 2,200 crore in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment. An inquiry should be ordered to find out who is involved in misappropriating this money,” Siddaramaiah told media.

In a quick rebuttal, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said the BJP government has nothing to hide. “Officials have been carrying out their duty under the chief secretary with full transparency. It’s wrong to say there is corruption. A former CM making such allegations is hurtful,” he said, adding that Siddaramaiah could have reached out to ministers or the chief secretary if he wanted information. “We won’t run away. We will account for everything. We even welcome a CBI probe,” Sudhakar said.

Siddaramaiah attacked the BJP government for its “lack of preparedness” in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. “There was sufficient time to arrange ventilators and other infrastructure. We’d not have had so many positive cases or deaths if the Centre and state governments were better prepared,” he said.

The Congress leader said the government should have kept ready at least 30,000-40,000 beds by now. “The total allocation of beds for coronavirus patients is 4,663 of which total occupied beds are 2,694. The net available beds are 1,969. What was the government doing? How long do we keep quiet?” Siddaramaiah said.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Siddaramaiah said Cabinet ministers were busy fighting amongst themselves. “I don’t think they listen to the CM. The medical education minister (Sudhakar) can’t stand the health minister (B Sriramulu). Then, Suresh Kumar (education minister) was brought in. Then, R Ashoka (revenue minister) came, I don’t know why,” he said.

Sudhakar dismissed this charge saying, "We're all working as a team under Yediyurappa."