CM seeks to end rent row, says govt will buy infra

Seeking to end the controversy surrounding bed rentals, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced that the government will buy all essential infrastructure for Covid-19 treatment at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC).

In a detailed statement, Yediyurappa said the government had decided to buy six essential items for each bed set - cot, fan, bucket, mug and dustbin - at a cost of Rs 7,500 per set, amounting to Rs 4.87 crore for the 6,500 beds being arranged at BIEC, touted as the largest Covid Care Centre.

Earlier, the BBMP rented these items from various firms at a cost of Rs 800 per day, for which the expenditure would run into a tune of Rs 24 crore per month. "This was very expensive. Hence, the government has decided to buy these items and later, make use of the same for government hostels," Yediyurappa said.

The government will spend Rs 2.45 crore on vinyl flooring on the premises at the rate of Rs 31 per sqft for an area of 7.9 lakh sqft.

Further, there were certain non-reusable essential items required to arrange the beds. The government would rent 19 such items for each bed at a cost of Rs 6,500 per month for each set. This would cost Rs 4.23 crore to the government, he said.

Drawing curtains on the controversy, the CM said: "Once it came to my notice that the essential items were being rented, I directed the officials to immediately rectify this. As per my instruction, the authorities have taken immediate steps to buy the necessary items and this has prevented the wasteful expenditure on unnecessary renting of items."

With the total expenditure for buying all the essential items coming up to Rs 7.32 crore, the CM has directed BBMP to immediately release this amount to all the vendors concerned.

Earlier this week, Yediyurappa is said to have lambasted officials for deciding to rent the infrastructure by "keeping him in the dark," despite he being the Bengaluru City Development minister. The Opposition Congress had alleged a scam in the bed rentals, accusing the BJP government of "looting public money" during the pandemic.