PAC should probe Covid-19 spending by the govt, says DK Shivakumar

The PAC must visit crisis-hit areas and inquire into the accounts, Shivakumar said

Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Wednesday urged the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct an inquiry into the money spent by the government on Covid-19 management.

The PAC must visit crisis-hit areas and inquire into the accounts. The Committee must compile an interim report and submit it to the state government through the Legislative Assembly Speaker and the Council chairperson, Shivakumar said in a letter to PAC chairperson Ramalinga Reddy.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader H K Patil and Legislative Council chairperson Basavaraj Horatti wrote separate letters to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa expressing dismay on the state-of-affairs.

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"Albeit many warnings from the epidemiologists and virologists, no adequate preparations were made... Leave alone preparations, the union government celebrated victory over corona; it wasn't a victory, it is a monumental folly," Patil said.

He pointed out that liquid nitrogen tanks in Prof U R Rao Satellite Centre and the Integrated Satellite Indian Testing Establishment Center (1-SITE) could be utilised for storing liquid oxygen with minor modification in valves.

The government must coordinate with multinationals and nonprofits to set up Covid Care Centres in open spaces in the city and use of extra spaces on large campuses of these companies, Horatti said.